Approval of the legal framework for solar energy brings legal security and unlocks investments in Brazil, says ABSOLAR

According to the entity, the bill boosts the growth of energy distributed generation projects, which today present the return on investment of around 4 years

 in the country

The approval of Bill No. 5.829/2019 (Projeto de Lei nº 5.829/2019 or only PL 5.829) by a large majority in The Chamber of Deputies creates the legal framework for distributed generation of solar energy and other renewable sources in Brazil, brings more legal security to the sector and should accelerate investments in new photovoltaic projects in homes and businesses in the country.

The assessment is made by the ABSOLAR’s CEO, Rodrigo Sauaia. According to him, the approval of PL 5.829 eliminates the legal and regulatory uncertainties that hovered over the market and thus brings stability, predictability and clarity to the accelerated growth of solar energy in Brazil.

"The approved bill kept the main recommendations of the sector and it came at a good time for Brazilians, once the distributed generation solar photovoltaic (PV) is an excellent investment for residences, companies and rural producers, presenting a return (payback) estimated at around four years on average in the country”, he says. “The solar source also helps to alleviate electricity costs and protects consumers from tariff increases, especially from additional thermal generation requested due to adverse hydro periods”, explains Sauaia.

The association understands that solar energy is essential for the country's sustainable economic recovery, remembering it generates many quality jobs, with clean, abundant and accessible energy.

The vice president of distributed generation at ABSOLAR, Bárbara Rubim, considers the legal framework strengthens the diversity of the matrix and the security of electricity supply in Brazil, helping to relieve the effects of the water crisis in the electricity sector and also contributes to reduction in the cost of electricity for all consumers. “In addition to being clean and competitive, the solar energy is quickly deployed: a new distributed generation system with photovoltaic panels can be installed in a house or small business in a few days, bringing a reduction of up to 90% in expenses with the bill light”, points out Rubim.

According to the association, the solar electricity has prices up to ten times lower than emergency fossil thermoelectric plants, requested because the water crisis, or the electricity that Brazil is importing from neighboring countries. Today, these are the two reasons are the most responsible for the tariffs strong increases to the Brazilian consumers and the rise in the country's inflation.

The Bill No. 5.829/2019, authored by Representative Silas Câmara and reported by Representative Lafayette de Andrada, now goes to be voted in the Federal Senate.

Indicators of distributed generation solar photovoltaic*

Consumer units supplied: 700 thousand

Installed capacity: 6.3 gigawatts

Investments: BRL 32 billion

New jobs: 189 thousand

Country presence: 5,083 municipalities have at least one system installed

(*Data accumulated from 2012)