Promoting Solar Water Heating in Brazil
Jan 02, 2016
Current water heating technology in Brazil
Flow-through type electric showers are the main form of water heating in the Brazilian residential market
Installed in more than 67% of homes
Accounts for 6% to 8% of the total electricity consumption
Are responsible for 18% of national electricity demand during peak hours
US$ 10 to install an electric shower heater in a home requires US$ 900 in electricity generation and distribution
Electric showers represents 30% of home electricity bills
Trends in water heating technologies
The use of electric shower heaters is likely to increase under a business-as-usual scenario
There is a clear relationship between rising income and energy consumption for heating among grid-connected Brazilian households
The roughly 20 million people currently without electricity in the country will likely demand electric hot water systems when they eventually receive electricity
5 million new homes with electricity will demand 6,000 MW just for water heating with electric showers
Brazil: 2,200 hours of insolation => 15 trillion MWhor 50,000 times Brazil’s electricity consumption
Atlas Solarimétrico do Brasil: FAE/UFPe
SWH social, economic and environmental advantages
Reduced demand in peak hours
Reduced demand for investment in generation and distribution
Improved quality of electricity distributed
Produced by small and medium sized Brazilian companies
Generate more jobs per energy unit
Mitigate local air pollution and impacts of new dams
Mitigate GHG emissions
Jobs generated by different energy sources
Energy source
Nuclear 75
Small hydro 120
Natural gas 250
Large hydro 250
Oil fired generation 260
Coal fired generation 370
Wood 733 – 1,067
Wind power 918 – 2,400
Ethanol 3,711 – 5,392
Solar (photovoltaic) 29,580 – 107,000
Jobs byTerawatt-hour
Goldemberg et al: Ethanol learning curve: the Brazilian experience
SWH has not “taken off” in the Brazilian market
Country m2 /100 inhabitants
Israel 67.1
Austria 17.5
Japan 7.9
Germany 5.1
China 3.2
Brazil 1.2
EUA 0.1
2003, www. iea.org
Barriers to SWH technology in Brazil
High up-front system costs
Constraints on the availability of financing
Non-supportive building codes
Lack of awareness of the technology’s multiple advantages, characteristics, and aesthetic solutions on the part of architects, engineers, builders, and other professionals
Failure to appropriately account for the social and environmental costs of conventional electrical generation
VC’s actions to boost SWH through municipalities
Legislation requiring solar water heating in city of São Paulo based on the Barcelona experience (under discussion)
Replication of the São Paulo experience to other municipalities through Solar Cities program (task for 2006)
Business plan for an ESCO SWH based (currently under development and supported by REEEP)
CDM project development for SWH activities led by ESCOs (currently under development in partnership with GMI and supported by BMF)
SWH use in existing low income housing projects (action coordinated with CAIXA and DaSol ABRAVA)
SWH up-front additional cost: US$ 200
Impact on mortgage payments: US$ 5 / month
Impact on family’s electric bill: (-) US$ 8 / month
CERs can make a difference for large housing projects
VC’s actions to boost SWH in low income housing
Thank you! Mark [email protected] Harry Born
VC Energy & Climate ProgramDélcio [email protected]