The community of Vila Limeira, in the south of Amazonas, is a remote village that had access to electricity for only four hours a day (between 19 and 22 pm) through a diesel generator. However, a project carried out by ION Energia, in partnership with BYD and VictronEnergy, this scenario changed and now residents have access to energy through the installation of an off-grid system.
The system has 80 solar panels, six 13.8kWh B-Box lithium batteries and three inverters. In addition, individual meters were installed in all homes. For Marcelo Taborda, BYD Sales Manager, this was one of the most important projects carried out in conjunction with other companies.
“The Vila Limeira project, developed by our partners at ION Energia, is an important milestone in the sustainable development of the Northern region of Brazil, in addition to providing a better quality of life and bringing dignity to residents, the project aims to eliminate the use of generators diesel, previously considered the only means of accessing electrical energy. This is the first isolated community in the south of Amazonas to have 24-hour electricity, 100% supplied with photovoltaic solutions and lithium batteries”, says the executive.
With around 80 residents, the village is located among one of the hundred Médio Purus Extractive Reserves, a Brazilian conservation unit for the sustainable use of nature located between the municipalities of Lábrea and Pauini. To get to the place it takes four days by boat from the nearest community.
The project began in 2018, when the village wanted to know how projects focused on solar energy worked and religious leaders from Apavil (Association of Agroextractivist Producers of the Assembly of God of Vila Limeira), joined WWF-Brazil, with support from the Foundation Mott to attract information to the location.
After authorization from ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation), work began with installation scheduled for 2020. However, as the pandemic worsened in the country, the project had to be postponed and only last year Vila Limeira began to have access to energy for 24 hours.
Benefits from installing a solar plant
Without access to energy, like several isolated communities in Amazonas, the village had restricted electricity for a few hours at night, from a single diesel generator that consumed around 10 liters per day. The monthly cost, which was around R$80 and R$120, was shared among all residents.
From scratch to installation
Vila residents participated in the project from the beginning until the day of final installation, in addition to receiving training to maintain the system. Furthermore, inspection is a commitment made by them, as it is necessary to remotely monitor the generation, consumption and charging of batteries, in addition to identifying how much is generated and controlling consumption.
One of the benefits obtained is the possibility of having night classes at school, which was previously impossible. Students had to share space within the classroom, even though they were in different periods.
