Yellow army invades Brasília to defend photovoltaic solar energy

An army of helmets and yellow shirts invaded Brasília on 07/11/2019, on what became known as the “D” day of the photovoltaic solar energy sector in Brazil. Although it may not have reached sufficient proportions to enter the history books of Brazil, the peaceful uprising will certainly remain in the memory of those who follow the struggle to consolidate the photovoltaic solar energy market in the country.

Instead of “black blocks”, without riots, professionals, businesspeople and members of entities that defend the solar sector, such as the ABSOLAR (Brazilian Solar Energy Association) and ABGD (Brazilian Distributed Generation Association), filled the lawns and streets of Brasília in search of attention against the much talked about “taxation of the Sun”.

Although there is in fact no taxation of the Sun, the slogan adopted by the movement opposes the proposal of ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) to charge distributed generators for the use of the electricity grid, which could discourage the generation of electricity from photovoltaic solar panels in the country, harming a sector that provides environmental, social and economic benefits to Brazil.

The beginning of “D” day was marked by the holding of public hearing 040/2019 of ANEEL, convened by the agency with the objective of “obtaining subsidies and additional information regarding the rules applicable to micro and mini distributed generation for the preparation of the draft text for Normative Resolution No. 482/2012 and section 3.7 of Module 3 of the Procedures for Distribution of Electric Energy in the National Electric System (PRODIST)”, according to information from the agency itself. ANEEL.

At the hearing the board of directors of ANEEL sat at a table in front of the Army Club pavilion in Brasília. Solar sector entities organized bus caravans from all over Brazil, which filled the pavilion with around 800 participants.

A pulpit was set up at the site and served as a platform for some fiery speeches in defense of solar energy. The speeches, mostly technical, did not capture the attention of the board of directors, who listened to the speeches with some disdain, according to people who were present.

The public hearing was marked by two electricity outages in the morning and early afternoon, as reported firsthand by the Canal Solar in the matter “Blackout frustrates public hearing ANEEL".

For a few long minutes the crowd remained in the dark, in what seemed to be an attempt to extinguish the movement of solar energy. It was probably all just an unfortunate coincidence, but the picturesque fact left an indelible mark on the event.

In addition to the lack of electricity at an event promoted by the National Electric Energy Agency, two other facts were reported by the Canal Solar: absence of live transmission, as is usual for the agency's events, and the agency's statement about the fact that it did not receive contributions from society for the hearing 040/2019.

Many strange coincidences in a hearing that was decisive for the survival of the photovoltaic solar energy sector in Brazil.

In the end, the yellow shirts and helmets movement was a success and managed to attract the attention of the political class. A very impactful speech in defense of solar energy was given by Senator Major Olímpio (from the PSDB/PSL-SP parliamentary bloc) during the hearing. And at the end of the day, a statement by President Jair Bolsonaro, published on social media, referred to the event in a positive way, implying that the Executive Branch will commit its forces to accept the demands of the solar sector.