EN 
PT_BR 
Coopercam (Cooperative of Coffee Growers of Campos Gerais and Campo do Meio) estimates savings of more than R$ 240 thousand per year with the installation of a solar photovoltaic plant at its headquarters in Campos Gerais (MG).
The plant was installed in a space of 4 thousand m², with 192 kWp of power and 480 photovoltaic modules. The plant is expected to produce, on average, 23 thousand kWh of energy per month.
“This is a new step we are taking to reduce expenses in the cooperative. Furthermore, we are taking advantage of a natural source to generate clean energy and, thus, contributing to the environment”, explains José Afonso Gomes, administrative director of Coopercam.
Gomes also highlights that the advantages of solar energy were decisive in making the decision. “The benefits of this system are countless. And, to approve this project, we carried out all the necessary studies. The conclusion we reached is that it is very worthwhile to have this system on your premises, mainly to reduce costs”, highlights the executive.
Rodrigo Sauaia, executive president of ABSOLAR (Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Energy Association), comments that this type of investment is recurrent due to the savings obtained. “It has been common for rural producer cooperatives to organize themselves to make acquisitions, purchases in blocks and, with this, obtain discounts, more competitive and attractive conditions for their production inputs and service contracts. Furthermore, producers have also made use of these cooperative mechanisms in the area of solar energy to reduce their production costs”, highlights the executive.
The Coopercam solar plant was designed and built by Eletrovan Engenharia, specialized in photovoltaic solar systems. The company operates in the states of Minas Gerais and Goiânia, and carries out projects for homes, industries, commercial establishments and rural areas.
Expansion of solar sources in the rural sector
The use of solar energy in the rural sector has grown strongly in the country. According to an exclusive survey by Canal Solar, the installed power of photovoltaic sources in Brazilian rural areas registered an increase of 120% in the first half of this year compared to 2019, rising from 63 MW to 142 MW of power.
Sauaia comments on market expectations for the coming years. “Recently, the rural segment surpassed the industrial segment and today already represents 11.7% of all installed power in solar distributed generation in the country. As a result, the rural sector contributes significantly to the photovoltaic market and the expectation is that this participation will grow over the next few years”, states the executive.
Still according to Sauaia, this growth is driven by a set of benefits that the solar source provides. “Rural producers have available area and also, sometimes, built areas, such as roofs, facades and parking lots, available to use the technology. Furthermore, they have access to positive financing lines for the use of photovoltaic energy and, thanks to an action by ABSOLAR with the Ministry of Agriculture, those who want investing in photovoltaic solar energy can use resources from the 2020-2021 Harvest Plan”.
Apart from the attractions for investing in photovoltaic energy, Sauaia lists the various applications of solar sources in the rural segment. “In the field, solar energy has a comprehensive set of applications. The most used is in water pumping and irrigation. Furthermore, photovoltaic systems are also used in dairy production, for refrigerating milk, in the production of animal protein and for refrigerating meat. They can also be used in production processes, in aquaculture tanks to maintain oxygenation, in electric fences for animal management, in communication, security and surveillance systems and, to bring electricity to regions of properties that are not connected to the grid”, Sauaia cast.
