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Solar Revolution: Brazil’s first favela solar energy cooperative
In the hills high above the iconic Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, energy history has been made—the first solar energy cooperative in a Brazilian Favela.
Favela residents across the city frequently suffer from power outages and extortionate electricity bills. Food and medicine spoil during the blackouts, and air cooling systems fail, which is particularly dangerous with increasing temperatures due to climate change.
A study in 2023 showed that 1 in 3 periphery community residents had experienced power losses of up to 3 days, and many reported broken electrical goods in the aftermath.
Back in 2015, Revolusolar, a local organization, set up solar panels in the Babilônia favela, powering a school and several residential homes. Local residents were taught how to install and maintain the panels.
10 years on – the Percília and Lúcio Cooperative is thriving with over 200 solar panels producing reliable energy, which helps hundreds of residents access reliable and affordable electricity. Healthcare goes on, uninterrupted, and children can continue to go to school despite the threat of blackouts.
The project is inspiring more solar cooperatives in favelas across Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and the Brazilian Amazon – putting power into the hands of local communities and giving them energy autonomy and independence.
Revolusolar and the Percília and Lúcio Cooperative continue to advocate for people’s rights to clean, affordable, and reliable energy.
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For more information visit Revolusolar’s website and if you’re based in Brazil you can donate to the co-operatives’ crowdfunder.
The Revolusolar team, with its head office in Rio de Janeiro, advocates for access to renewable energy solutions in Brazil’s most vulnerable areas, including favelas in Rio, São Paulo, and communities in the Amazon rainforest.
Both Revolusolar and the cooperative use their experiences to advocate for people’s rights to clean, affordable, and reliable energy, not just in the city of Rio de Janeiro but in other parts of Brazil where access to electricity is still a challenge.
Dinei Medina, President of the Percília e Lúcio Cooperative, was born in the Chapeu Mangueira favela and has been advocating for solar energy solutions in favela communities, including campaigning for a humanitarian corridor in case of emergencies during blackouts.
“We are the model to be followed in Brazil. We believe that the government could really encourage this kind of initiative in the neighborhoods. We have no support from the public authorities. So it’s very complicated… When quality [electrical] service isn’t provided in peripheral areas, you’re essentially criminalizing poverty.”
— Dinei Medina, President of the Percília e Lúcio Cooperative
More about the project
Credits
This video was produced by 350.org in collaboration with Thomas Mendel – please credit Thomas Mendel/350.org.