Developing Brazil’s Market for Distributed Solar Generation

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) analyzes the drivers of distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) generation in Brazil. Based on a study of 5,563 municipalities, the report finds that demand-side factors—such as income (GDP), population size, and electricity tariffs—are more significant drivers of solar adoption than the availability of solar radiation. The authors argue that policies to mitigate climate risk must address these demand-side barriers to encourage adoption in high-potential regions, particularly the poorest areas of the country.

• Demand-side factors are more influential in the adoption of distributed solar PV than solar radiation levels. Analysis shows that municipalities with lower annual solar radiation have, on average, more consumer units of distributed solar PV generation than those with higher radiation levels.
• The adoption of distributed solar units in Brazil is positively correlated with higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP), larger population sizes, and higher electricity tariffs.
• As of 2017, the distributed solar market in Brazil was concentrated in a minority of municipalities. Only 1,478 of the 5,563 studied municipalities had at least one photovoltaic solar unit, with Rio de Janeiro recording the highest number of units in a single municipality at 436 in June 2017.
• Distributed solar generation currently dominates the decentralized energy supply in Brazil, accounting for nearly 70% of the decentralized supply and 99% of installed consumer units.

APA

Assunção, J., & Schutze, A. (2017). Developing Brazil’s Market for Distributed Solar Generation. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CPI_PolicyBrief_Developing_Brazil’s_Market_for_Distributed_Solar_Generation.pdf

Chicago

Assunção, Juliano, and Amanda Schutze. Developing Brazil’s Market for Distributed Solar Generation. Climate Policy Initiative, 2017. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CPI_PolicyBrief_Developing_Brazil’s_Market_for_Distributed_Solar_Generation.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Assunção |first1=Juliano |last2=Schutze |first2=Amanda |title=Developing Brazil’s Market for Distributed Solar Generation |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=September 2017 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CPI_PolicyBrief_Developing_Brazil’s_Market_for_Distributed_Solar_Generation.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{assuno2017developing, author = {Assunção, Juliano and Schutze, Amanda}, title = {{Developing Brazil’s Market for Distributed Solar Generation}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2017}, month = sep, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CPI_PolicyBrief_Developing_Brazil’s_Market_for_Distributed_Solar_Generation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }