On Monday, Brazil’s energy ministry said that solar installations on net metering continue to increase in Brazil, with 7,528 PV systems of this type now installed, with a total capacity of 57.6 MW.
This growth is significant, especially after changes were made to the net metering regulations a year ago, which aimed to promote the scheme, as there were just 1,700 such facilities, with combined capacity of 13 MW, at the end of 2015.
Overall, there are currently 7,619 net metering systems in Brazil, made up of different technologies, and with a total power output of 73.6 MW, according to the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel).
The state with the largest number of PV net metering systems is Minas Gerais with 1,644 installations totaling 18.2 MW, followed by Sao Paulo with 1,369 systems totaling 7MW, and Rio Grande do Sul finishes off the top three, with 769 installations totaling 6.3 megawatts.
Interestingly, the residential sector is the segment with the most net metering facilities in Brazil with 5,997 installations totaling 24.2 megawatts, followed by the commercial sector with 1,187 systems totaling 21.9 megawatts, and then the industrial sector with 183 installations totaling 17.7 megawatts.
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The total is still trivial, but the growth rate is promising. The concentration in Minas Gerais suggests that state-level as well as federal policies are crucial enablers for distributed solar in Brazil. Red tape is a national speciality.