Review of the photovoltaic energy program in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

In much of the world, there is increasing demand for electricity to serve rural communities, isolated from the existing grids and typified by low-density electrical consumption. Because these non-urban consumer markets require rather high implementation investments (as well as high operation and maintenance costs), new technological and policy options are required to meet the needs of these markets. These consumers typically use energy in daytime peak hours of electricity, typically for lighting, television, and communication—as well as for a variety of cultural habits such as hot water that impose high demands on the utility's power distribution and generation system. This has been the case in Brazil, making it necessary to identify decentralized generation technologies to meet the potential markets, typically serving rural and poorer areas. The government itself provided the impetus with the passage of the Brazilian “Universalization Law” that mandated supplying electricity access for the entire population by the year 2010. This law allows the use of both the distribution grid and renewable energy off-grid technologies. In response, Brazil's largest state utility, Energetic Company of Minas Gerais (CEMIG) has aggressively implemented the use of decentralized photovoltaic systems to supplement the conventional power grid to satisfy the “universalization” targets. This paper provides a summary of the status and the future prospects of solar photovoltaic Energy in Brasil, within the context of the “universal electricity supply” policy. The focus here is to highlight the successes and the issues experienced to date in the State of Minas Gerais. This includes examining the methods implemented to ensure system reliability for the consumers, as well as the standards established under the Agéncia Nacional de Energy Elétrica (ANEEL), the national regulator electrical agency that ensures compliance with the federal regulations.