Impact Evaluation of Solar Photovoltaic Electrification: Indigenous Community Case Study in Brazilian Amazon

Despite efforts to promote universal access to electrification, the Brazilian Amazon basin has around 82,000 families without electricity. The basin is huge, with few roads, many rivers, and conservative areas, which is an enormous challenge in terms of logistics and electrification costs. This paper describes a case study at the Nova Esperança community site in the Cuieiras River, Brazil. The community received stand-alone solar photovoltaic systems in 2018 and 2019. The process started with a survey and finished with an interview with each dweller that received a 975 W and 2-day autonomy photovoltaic system. A monitoring system was developed and deployed, and weather monitoring was performed to evaluate the impact of high temperatures on the equipment. The community does not have cell phone coverage and it is far from the main cities. We claim that the model created and adopted in the case study has interesting outcomes, even considering a small budget. Some houses, after 1 year of deployment, had their electrical demand rise by 300%, and 50% improved their income. We estimate the number of greenhouse gases annually avoided after electrification, replacing the consumed fossil fuel. The project also estimates the expenditure on energy sources that residents used due to the lack of electricity, which they stopped doing after electrification. The avoided expense can cover maintenance costs over the years. The goals of the SDG that were covered by the project are good health and well-being, accessible and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, combating climate change, and partnerships for the goals.