Rooftop Solar in Brazil Can Reach 2 Gigawatts If Tax Is Dropped

(Bloomberg) — Rooftop solar power in Brazil can reach 2
gigawatts of capacity by 2024 after the government ruled states
no longer must tax renewable power.

The threshold is possible if all states in the country
agree to drop a tax on power generated from solar panels and
other distributed energy systems, the country’s energy regulator
Aneel said Thursday in an e-mail.

In an attempt to encourage small-scale power growth, the
country’s National Economic Policy Council ruled last week that
Brazilian states are no longer required to tax renewable energy
generated in homes and small businesses. The ICMS tax averaged
20 percent to 30 percent of the value of renewable energy that
homes and businesses return to the grid.

“The initiative is a positive sign to spur distributed
generation in Brazil,” said Rodrigo Lopes Sauaia, executive
director of the Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Energy Association.

About 700,000 homes and small businesses would have to
install solar panels to reach the 2-gigawatt threshold.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Vanessa Dezem in Sao Paulo at
vdezem@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Jim Efstathiou Jr., Carlos Caminada

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