Brazil reaches the top of the world ranking in installed capacity of solar energy

The month of February registered the mark of 26 gigawatts of power installed in solar energy in Brazil, adding the indices of distributed generation (smaller plants) and centralized generation (larger). The novelty of the survey carried out by the Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Energy (Absolar), in partnership with the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL), is that São Paulo surpassed Minas Gerais in distributed generation in the country by just 0.1% of advantage.

The numbers consolidate photovoltaics as the second most important source within the Brazilian energy matrix, accounting for 12% of the total. It is second only to hydropower, which, with almost 110 gigawatts, accounts for 50.6% of the total. In third place comes wind power (11.4%). They also reveal the consolidated ascendancy of the sector, which, by closing 2022 with a capacity of 24 gigawatts, placed Brazil, for the first time, in the “top ten” of the world ranking of photovoltaic energy generation.

The country now ranks 8th, according to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena). The ranking includes large plants (centralized generation) and smaller systems (distributed generation). Currently, in March 2023, the Brazilian market has already surpassed 26 GW, with 18 GW of distributed generation and 8 GW of centralized generation. In 2021, Brazil ranked 14th, with 13 GW. To reach eighth place, it surpassed six countries: Spain, Great Britain, Holland, France, Vietnam and South Korea. The top five remain China, United States, Japan, Germany and India.

“At a time when investing in clean energy and adopting sustainable economic measures are urgent and priority agendas in practically the entire world, the consolidation and growth of photovoltaic energy in Brazil is extremely positive news, which should be celebrated”, evaluates Gabriel Guimarães , commercial director of SolarVolt.

And as many Brazilian businessmen have adopted governance practices that take into account the preservation of the environment, the trend, according to Gabriel Guimarães, is for Brazil to be a protagonist in the growth of the use of renewable energy sources. “It is impossible to imagine a company operating without the use of electricity. Likewise, when thinking about including sustainable practices in the business environment, one of the first points that comes to mind is solar energy. First, because Brazil is a tropical country, known worldwide for its warm climate. This favors the choice of a form of energy production that requires solar radiation”, he explains.

Photovoltaic energy works through the installation of solar panels, usually on top of buildings, which convert solar radiation into electrical energy. In addition to collaborating with environmental preservation and increasing the visibility and valuation of their ventures in the market, Gabriel says that businessmen who choose to use solar sources can obtain some other financial advantages, such as a quick financial return, better predictability of costs and protection against energy inflation.

The “top ten” of the world ranking of photovoltaic solar generation was as follows: