EN 
PT_BR 
Professionals defended, this Tuesday (2), the use of solar panels in constructions financed by the program My home, my life, as a way of reducing residents’ energy bills.
The matter was discussed in the joint commission of the MP 1162/23, which deals with the housing program that will be launched by the Federal Government with the expectation that more than 2 million new homes.
If in each of these houses there are installed two photovoltaic modules, with 1kW of power per residence, it would be possible reduce the value of electrical energy by 70%, according to Rodrigo Sauaia, president of ABSOLATE (Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Energy Association).
The executive said during the meeting that the required investment would be in the order of R$ 9.5 billion for the installation of 2 GW of power, which corresponds to the total number of houses designed by the Government.
Sauaia also estimated that the installation impact of technology in the program would be the creation of 60 thousand jobs locations and a collection of R$ 2.4 billion to public coffers.
“This technology, which in the past was considered a technology for the rich, is not. And nothing better than a program like Minha Casa, Minha Vida to help reduce the biggest burden on the budget of low-income families with clean and renewable energy”, reinforced the executive.
Sauaia also noted that the reduction of 70% in the energy is already a reality in 12 thousand homes built with photovoltaic panels by CDHU (Housing and Urban Development Company) of São Paulo, which since 2015 has been investing in this energy efficiency solution.
Along the same lines, Rafael Ramos Codeço, from the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, argued that public demand can boost the solar energy production chain and insert it into the national construction production chain.
“By contributing to sustaining the demand for photovoltaic panels, Minha Casa, Minha Vida can, in addition to attracting direct foreign investment, provide decisive support in the consolidation of national production on a competitive basis”, he commented.
Maintenance
During the meeting, Fernando Marangoni (União/SP), rapporteur of the MP, considered the possible increasing the cost of projects of construction due to the cost of maintenance of photovoltaic panels.
“The implementation of this model linked to a housing program is very difficult, it requires massive public investment, it is different from the benefit in the family unit”, he said.
Rodrigo Sauaia, however, clarified that, in the case of panels installed on roofs, as was done in CDHU projects, the maintenance cost was minimal and in the range of 1% of total investment per year.
Regarding solar plants, the executive pointed out the advantage that maintenance can be outsourced to the construction company responsible for the work or to companies specializing in solar energy. He reinforced that the equipment has a useful life of 25 years.
The text of the MP provides that works on the housing program must include the installation of solar energy equipment, as well as establishing priority for projects using renewable energy sources.
One Response
There are sectors of government activity at the three levels of power that can be levers for the dissemination of solar energy, such as the federal government's Minha Casa Minha Vida program and basic schools and free, public federal universities. When I was deputy director of the Escola República of the Secretariat of Sciences, Technology and Innovations of RJ/Faetec, I set up an energy efficiency project that could be complemented by photovoltaic generation, with excellent returns and savings. But, as usual, decisions in the area of education, like many others, are managed with a political perspective, regrettably, damaging to the public coffers. We are aware that to change this panorama, there will be an effort, above all, from society, to put pressure on the political congress. We also know that the task is herculean. I did the same at UFRJ in 1994, as the launcher of a similar precursor program. There, we were able to implement a retrofit program for electrical installations and equipment that resulted in savings of around R$50 million, at present value, on the Cidade Universidade and Praia Vermelha campuses.