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Circle Economy and ICLEI have partnered up to initiate the go to knowledge hub of case studies about the circular economy in cities. The Cities Collection is a repository of case studies that demonstrate the role of cities in the circular transition, and includes policies, business cases and research articles. Cases in the Collection flow into an ecosystem of digital products which support users in transitioning cities to circularity, for example [Ganbatte](https://ganbatte.world/cities/) and <a href="https://circulars.iclei.org/" target="_blank">ICLEI Circulars</a>, both part of the <a href="https://circulars.iclei.org/circle-lab-for-cities/" target = _blank">Circle Lab for Cities Programme.</a>




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Circular Cities

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Rampant material extraction is pushing the ecosystems of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to their limits. Over 11% of global raw materials are extracted within the region, yet it represents only about 8% of the world's population.

[*The Circularity Gap Report* (CGR) Latin America and the Caribbean](https://www.circularity-gap.world/lac), a first of its kind, demonstrates how the region can leverage the circular economy to tackle systemic inefficiencies in satisfying societal needs, conserve its unique natural wealth, and improve its people’s well-being.

To devise pathways for a circular transition, the report analysed the sectors where circular interventions could yield the most positive impact—environmentally, economically, and socially. This entails shifting to a circular food system, building a circular built environment, advancing circular manufacturing, transforming the energy system, reducing waste generation, and improve waste cycling.

[Circle Economy](https://www.circle-economy.com/) is a global impact organisation with an international team of passionate experts based in Amsterdam. We empower industries, cities, and nations with practical and scalable solutions to put the circular economy into action. Our vision is an economic system that ensures the planet and all people can thrive. To avoid climate breakdown, our goal is to double global circularity by 2032. Through the Circularity Gap Reporting Initiative, our mission is to deliver Circularity Metrics that measure the state of the global and national economy and identify key levers to transition to circularity. 

Latin America Collection

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Business case

Impact on the availability of resources as well as their effect on living organisms, ecosystems, and components of the environment.

Ecological Impact

Impacts on the social fabric of the community and well-being of the individuals and families.

Social Impact

Impacts on the financial condition of a company, as well as the the economicconditions of its stakeholders and on economic systems at local, national, andglobal levels.

Economic Impact

Impact on increased knowledge and understanding as a result of the case study

Increase Awareness

Contribution to social parity, or impact on social disparity

Equality

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

Societal Services

Providing public and private education and support services at any level or for any profession, and governmental and public administration services, including judicial, regulatory, and legislative activities, taxation, defence, public order and safety, immigration services, foreign affairs and the administration of government programmes

Education and Government Services

Providing electricity and gas services, including traditional and renewable energy generation, natural and manufactured gas and operating gas networks

Energy Utilities and Independent Power Producers

Ensure renewable, reusable, non-toxic resources are utilised as materials and energy in an efficient way

Prioritise regenerative resources

Work together throughout the supply chain, internally within organisations and with the public sector and communities to increase transparency and create joint value

Team up to create joint value

Replace energy sources with less impactful alternatives and enact energy efficiency measures

Regenerative energy

Engage with the local community where facilities or offices are located

Community collaboration

Using renewable energy like solar, wind, etc. or renewable fuels like biomass, etc.

Renewable energy, fuels

'Incentivise' sends market signals and support to businesses, citizens and governments to promote certain activities.

Incentivise

Public-civil partnerships

Economic Frameworks

Redesign systems to lay the foundation for circular activities and enable the transition to a circular economy 

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Rethink

**Harmonize with nature** by promoting infrastructure, production systems and sourcing that allows natural ecosystems to thrive




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Regenerate

Facilitate cross-collaboration by engaging city departments, industries and businesses on ambitious, closed-loop circular projects.

Support closed-loop systems and cross-sectoral synergies

Prioritize solutions that use the power of functioning ecosystems as infrastructure to provide natural services to benefit society and the environment; consider nature-based replacements for grey infrastructure.

Prioritise renewable resources 

Cities consume about 75% of global energy and emit between 50% and 60% of global greenhouse gases (UN-Habitat). To reduce the negative impact of their energy consumption, cities need to shift away from fossil fuels and move towards renewable energy sources. Such a shift will help cities work towards their climate change mitigation and adaptation action plans. Renewable energy technologies such as wind, water, solar, and geothermal can also help improve access to energy in vulnerable and marginalised neighbourhoods through, for example, decentralised, off-grid solutions.

Renewable energy technologies can harvest the energy in nature’s processes, such as wind, and solar radiation and geothermal heat, that can be replenished within a human lifespan. In contrast, fossil fuels are materials that are not replenished within a human lifespan and are combusted for energy, losing the fuel material and resulting in emissions.

Local governments can develop sustainable energy plans, considering different energy resources and requirements, to develop a robust strategy for the development of renewable energy technologies and infrastructure throughout the city. They can also institute specific legislation and tax systems to regulate energy production and consumption, incentivise research and development of cleaner, more efficient technologies. Via Power Purchase Agreements cities can buy renewable energy from green energy providers and fix the price in order to provide security to financial institutions to finance renewable energy infrastructure. Furthermore, increasing awareness and facilitating capacity-building on planning urban sustainable energy projects can help the uptake of clean energy across the city by different stakeholders—from citizens to businesses and institutions. Facilitating collaboration, then, will be crucial, since private companies operate most of the world’s energy systems.


⚡ Energy Systems

Businesses

Communities

Governments

As much as 90% of world energy use comes from fossil sources. Meanwhile in 2017, only 0.7% of global energy use derived from solar power and 1.9% from wind ([Statistical Review of World Energy, 2021](https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy.html)). Some of the highly contested issues stopping the energy transition from materialising are land requirements and high upfront investment costs. Decentralising renewable energy production through cooperatives could be a solution to both. Local renewable energy cooperatives allow the financial burden of purchasing renewable energy equipment to be spread amongst a voluntary group of people, all while relying less on new land.

Cooperatives, then, allow residents without renewable energy potential, perhaps due to lack of space or property rental restrictions, to gain the potential through others. A cooperative project, for instance, may involve a street of houses in which the participants collectively decide to install solar PV panels on the roofs of suitable participating homes, whilst all participants' equally benefit from the renewable electricity production. This enables more people to consume renewable electricity and save on costs. Furthermore, all participants have a democratic say within the decision-making of the project, unlike a traditional electricity utility contract. This type of model can also be applied for microgrids, local biogas installations, gasifiers and other projects.

Local governments can support and facilitate such initiatives. They can set up a so-called “support coalition” that can support experiments, aid cooperative agreements, mobilise resources and provide regulatory support, such as subsidising part of the energy system. Municipalities can also become cooperative members themselves, directly consuming or selling the energy produced and gaining an additional instrument to implement municipal energy policy. 

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⚡  Support local renewable energy cooperatives

Cities consume about 75% of global energy and emit between 50% and 60% of global greenhouse gases ([UN-Habitat](https://unhabitat.org/topic/energy)). To reduce the negative impact of their energy consumption, cities need to shift away from fossil fuels and move towards renewable energy sources. Such a shift will help cities work towards their climate change mitigation and adaptation action plans. Renewable energy technologies such as wind, water, solar, and geothermal can also help improve access to energy in vulnerable and marginalised neighbourhoods through, for example, decentralised, off-grid solutions.

Renewable energy technologies can harvest the energy in nature’s processes, such as wind, and solar radiation and geothermal heat, that can be replenished within a human lifespan. In contrast, fossil fuels are materials that are not replenished within a human lifespan and are combusted for energy, losing the fuel material and resulting in emissions. 

Local governments can develop sustainable energy plans, considering different energy resources and requirements, to develop a robust strategy for the development of renewable energy technologies and infrastructure throughout the city. They can also institute specific legislation and tax systems to regulate energy production and consumption, incentivise research and development of cleaner, more efficient technologies. Via Power Purchase Agreements cities can buy renewable energy from green energy providers and fix the price in order to provide security to financial institutions to finance renewable energy infrastructure. Furthermore, increasing awareness and facilitating capacity-building on planning urban sustainable energy projects can help the uptake of clean energy across the city by different stakeholders—from citizens to businesses and institutions. Facilitating collaboration, then, will be crucial, since private companies operate most of the world’s energy systems.


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⚡  Harnessing renewable energy from natural processes

Regenerate strategies phase out hazardous or toxic materials and processes and substitute them with regenerative biomass resources. A circular economy aims to mimic natural cycles—by shifting to more regenerative farming practices, for example—while also maximising the share of circular biomass that enters the economy. Regeneration can happen both at the systems level (by designing regenerative processes) as well as at the product level (by switching synthetic to organic fertilisers, for example).

Impacts

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Industries

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A framework of policy instruments that enabled and encourage the transition to the circular economy

Policy Instruments

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A framework of policy instruments that enable and stimulate the transition to the circular economy

The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

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Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

The Circular City Actions Framework provides urban changemakers with five complementary strategies they can use to start working towards a more circular system. 

The framework is action-based to provide users with concrete strategic directions and showcase the desired outcomes of each strategy. 
The framework consists of five complementary **strategies**, under which **sub-strategies** provide further detail. Finally, each sub-strategy consists of a diversity of tangible **solutions** which are framed in relation to key thematic areas. 

Note: solutions are currently focused on:
- 🍏 **Food systems**
- 🏢  **Built environment**
- 👕📱  **Consumer goods**
- ⚡ **Energy Systems**
- 🚌 **Mobility Systems**
- 💧 **Water Systems**

More thematic areas are coming soon...

'Click through each of the five strategy cards below to explore the framework and circular economy case studies in more depth!'



This framework was developed in collaboration with ICLEI, Metabolic and Ellen MacArthur Foundation with support from the MAVA Foundation. Read more about it [here]( https://circulars.iclei.org/action-framework/). 



Circular City Actions Framework

An action-based framework for local governments working towards circular cities

Thematic Areas

City Stakeholders

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Based on the work of [Bocken et al. (2016)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699661_Product_design_and_business_model_strategies_for_a_circular_economy), the Four Flows Framework serves as a simple framework for managing resource flows in a circular economy by using less (Narrow), using for longer (Slow), using again (Cycle), and using clean, regenerative materials and energy (Regenerate).

These different principles of circular economy can be applied to our socioeconomic metabolism: we can design stocks like buildings, infrastructure, machinery, and vehicles to be rich resource mines for the future, and design manufactured goods and consumables to be cycled and made regenerative. Furthermore, the focus must also centre on getting more value out of fewer materials. Achieving the aims of a circular economy—minimising material use, regenerating the Earth, and preventing material losses—can be done through these four key strategies mentioned above.

Source: Circle Economy. (2023). *[The circularity gap report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023)* (p.22). Amsterdam: Circle Economy. 

Four Flows Framework

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Clique aqui para Português

Initiative: RevoluSolar
Contact: Facebook | Website | Email
Year Founded: 2015
Community: Babilônia and Chapéu-Mangueira (South Zone)
Mission: To carry out research, production, and management of renewable energy and offer training and education for the local population on the social, economic, and environmental benefits of solar energy.
Public Events: RevoluSolar offers workshops and courses about solar energy and sustainability.
How to Contribute: Become a member or volunteer, contribute to the group’s research, or attend a workshop.

Brazil’s sunlight is an abundant and free resource. On average, there is 30% more sunlight per year in Rio de Janeiro as in major cities across Germany, yet Germany ranks much higher than Brazil in terms of in-home, citizen-produced green energy.
Seeking to harness Brazil’s solar energy capacity, RevoluSolar is a community-based nonprofit organization that produces, researches, and manages renewable energy in the communities of Morro da Babilônia and Chapéu-Mangueira, in Rio’s South Zone. Through collaborative volunteer work involving electricians, entrepreneurs from the favela, and the Babilônia and Chapeu Mangueira Residents’ Associations, RevoluSolar seeks to educate community members about the benefits of renewable energy.

RevoluSolar’s current president, Adalberto Almeida, 40, co-founded the organization in 2015, together with Belgian entrepreneur Pol Dhuyvetter and other community members. After completing a training course, in 2016 Almeida helped complete RevoluSolar’s two pilot projects: installing solar panels at Babilônia Rio Hostel and at Estrelas da Babilônia, a guesthouse and restaurant. Almeida became the first photovoltaic panel installer in Babilônia. Almeida says that he knew very little about solar energy prior to his involvement with the project. “It was during the first pilot project in the community that I came to understand what sustainable energy is,” he explains.
An initial challenge facing RevoluSolar was framing solar energy as something attainable and relevant for residents of Babilônia. While some residents are hesitant about the idea, as president of the organization, Almeida—a resident of Babilônia for eighteen years—has helped increase local participation. Since developing the two pilot projects, the organization has shifted its focus to better serve the needs of residents. “Today the project is more representative of Babilônia and Chapéu-Mangueira to the residents,” Almeida says.

Confronted with soaring electricity rates charged by public electric utility Light, RevoluSolar intends to generate energy independence—paving the way for a democratic and sustainable future by serving as a model for other communities in Rio de Janeiro and across the country. In 2012, the National Agency for Electric Energy (ANEEL) passed a resolution allowing individuals to produce energy at home and, in return, earn credits towards their electric bills through what is known as an “energy compensation system”—a critical development for initiatives like RevoluSolar. According to RevoluSolar’s secretary, Juan Cuervo, 29, the group’s research shows that in total, residents of Babilônia pay Light more than R$1,000,000 (US$250,000) per year. “The money that is being spent [on electricity] each year could stay within the community,” Cuervo said.
At the same time, the RevoluSolar team remains aware of immediate and urgent issues facing residents. Cuervo describes: “The favela has bigger problems than whether [residents] are consuming petroleum-based or solar energy. We can’t ever lose sight of this. So, the first objective is to reduce residents’ electricity bills. The romanticization of solar energy will help to create an alternative model later on, but the first issue is that there are residents here with monthly salaries of R$900 (US$225) who are paying bills of R$600-700 (US$150-175)—so people are having to choose between electricity and food.”

RevoluSolar’s work in Babilônia and Chapéu-Mangueira demonstrates the potential for residents to consume and produce renewable energy within the community. Today the project consists of a team of twenty to thirty volunteers, including many favela residents, and aims to directly improve the residents’ lives. According to Cuervo, the organization aims to prepare residents for the rise of solar energy in Brazil: “[By then,] people will already understand what solar energy is. It won’t be something new—like it was for Almeida three years ago. People from here in the community will know how to do installations, maintain [solar panels], and do everything that gives the community autonomy. [Furthermore], they are able to work outside of the community and generate income.”

In December 2018, RevoluSolar took the strategic next step of installing panels in a central community space, the Tia Percília School in Babilônia. The community school is more than 25 years old but recently lost funding that it had been receiving from a Swedish NGO. According to Cuervo, the school has 30 students but is large enough for 180. Rather than expanding to fulfill its potential, it is on the brink of closure simply due to a lack of financial support. Through this project, RevoluSolar hopes to affirm the school’s place at the heart of the community. Also, “the installation at the school expands the horizons of residents who have the means to install [panels] to sustain their families but are afraid of how [the panels] work. It’s an opportunity for them to believe in the project,” according to Almeida.

RevoluSolar’s advocacy includes children, the future generation of sustainable energy innovators. RevoluSolar’s members educate children from a young age about the benefits of solar energy so that they grow up conscious of its potential. Once per month, RevoluSolar hosts a class at the Tia Percília School about solar energy and sustainability.
Revolusolar has recently established a partnership with Solar On, a company to which Revolusolar refers clients that are interested in receiving solar energy installations. For each sale made through the partnership, Revolusolar receives a commission which allows them to train more residents. Each sale also guarantees that at least one resident who is trained as a solar energy installer by Revolusolar will be contracted as a Solar On team member, gaining compensation and training to enter this new market. For the client, the partnership represents the possibility of installing more efficient and cleaner energy, receiving a high quality service for a very competitive price on the market, and helping to develop the sector in Rio’s communities.

In the future, Almeida hopes for RevoluSolar to install panels on residents’ homes throughout the community. Though he acknowledges that this will be expensive, RevoluSolar has already benefited from three funding opportunities from the CASA Socio-Environmental Fund; received grants from the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the European Federation of Renewable Energy Cooperatives (RESCOOP); received technical support from the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Brazilian Organization of Cooperatives (OCB); and actively participated in the national network of the Front for a New Energy Policy for Brazil. Additionally, Almeida and Cuervo emphasize that the continued support of the Babilônia and Chapeu Mangueira Residents’ Associations is crucial to the organization’s success. “Without their support, our project would stand still,” Cuervo says.
Another goal for the organization is to develop an energy production cooperative, an initiative that could serve as a model for other communities. Although the cooperative is still in an early phase of development, Cuervo remains hopeful. “Brazil’s potential for solar energy is enormous,” Cuervo says. “The project stems from creating a strong foundation for the future. When solar energy really takes off in Brazil, the community will already be prepared to take advantage of it.”

*RevoluSolar is one of over 100 community projects mapped by Catalytic Communities (CatComm), the organization that publishes RioOnWatch, as part of our parallel ‘Sustainable Favela Network‘ program launched in 2017 to recognize, support, strengthen, and expand on the sustainable qualities and community movements inherent to Rio de Janeiro’s favela communities. Check out all the profiles of mapped projects here. 




Original artwork by Gilberto FAO

Clique aqui para Português

This article is part of a series on energy justice and efficiency in Rio’s favelas. It is also part of a series created in partnership with the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University, to produce articles for the Digital Brazil Project on human rights and socio-environmental justice in the favelas for RioOnWatch.
“People say solar energy is only for the rich. That’s a lie, and we prove it right here. Small businesses, institutions, and cooperatives located in the favelas of Babilônia and Chapéu-Mangueira have shown the world that solar energy is possible in poor areas,” states Valdinei Medina. Born and raised in Chapéu-Mangueira, he currently lives in its neighboring community, Babilônia, both situated in Leme, a beachfront area in Rio de Janeiro’s South Zone. Dinei, as he is known, is one of the local leaders that form RevoluSolar, a non-profit association dedicated to solar energy installations, vocational training courses and environmental education in the two favelas.
The first installations were set up at two local ventures, the Babilônia Rio Hostel and the Estrelas da Babilônia Guesthouse. Five years after the pilot projects’ completion, residents are getting ready for the launch of Brazil’s first solar energy cooperative in a favela. The electricity generated by the panels, located on the roof of the Residents Association, will benefit approximately 35 families from Babilônia and Chapéu-Mangueira.

The solar panels’ assemblage was completed in February of this year, and the cooperative is now starting to operate. The beneficiary households will obtain a reduction of about 30% in their electric bills and will consume clean energy. “We held several meetings with the residents’ association, we asked who wanted to participate and let them know they needed to be properly registered with the electric utility. Initially, approximately 120 people signed up and, from this group, we drew up our plans. Today, we may say solar energy has generated great local interest, in part due to the fact that the local power utility, Light, charges by estimating electricity consumption here in the favela. Besides being expensive, the existing service is very bad,” Dinei explains.
Part of the amount saved on electric bills will be transferred, on a monthly basis, to the cooperative, to compensate the local workers involved in the installation. According to Dinei, the expectation is that this model will allow for the project scope to be expanded in the community and, in the future, to be duplicated in other favelas and even at public institutions. “We believe the solution for the city, for the country, will come from poor and peripheral areas,” Dinei expressed.
Across from the residents’ association, where the solar energy cooperative will operate, is the Tia Percília School, a community organization created three decades ago. The name is a tribute to its founder, a local leader involved and concerned with expanding access to education and culture among the children and youth of Babilônia and Chapéu-Mangueira. Nowadays, one of Dona Percília da Silva’s sons is the school’s caretaker. His name is Carlos Antônio Pereira, better known as Palô. The school was the first community institution in Babilônia to receive solar panels in December 2018.
The Tia Percília School serves children from both Babilônia and Chapéu-Mangueira communities completely free of charge. It maintains its activities through donations. The electric bill was one of the main costs and weighed heavily on the institution’s tight budget. “We have seven or eight rooms, our energy consumption is high because we need to run fans, air conditioning, refrigerators, freezers, and computers. Electricity charges were a main concern, since whether you’re open to the public or not, the bill shows up and someone has to pay,” states Palô.

Before the photovoltaic system installation—technology that converts the sun’s energy into electricity—energy bills ranged from R$700 (US$129) to R$1,000 (US$184) per month. “The costs were awfully high. They significantly impacted our budget and, often, our contributing partners did not understand how a favela was generating such a high bill. How can I ask for a donation and tell someone that I spend R$1,000 a month on electricity? Those charges are heavy, they can’t be explained; it’s difficult to get people to understand,” Palô explains.
Once the system started running, electricity charges were reduced 85% on average, fluctuating between R$100 (US$18) and R$150 (US$27) per month. Savings have exceeded expectations, according to Palô. Additionally, during the months when the system generates more energy than the school consumes, electricity is sent back to Light’s grid and turned into credits. These can then be used to offset higher charges later on.
The budget is not the only item impacted by solar energy installation. The solar panels’ presence in community spaces, such as the school and the Residents Association, has brought clean energy closer to residents’ daily lives. “We might hear about solar energy on daily newscasts, but once you see it in actual practice, you realize it is possible,” notes Palô. Although “blue roofs” can increasingly be seen from hilltops, he says solar panels still stir curiosity in children and adults alike.
As Dinei explains, bringing about environmental education in the community is a significant goal for the project: “It is still a distant target, we have lots of debates and challenges ahead of us. We are starting a film club, publishing a primer; then there’s the group that works with early childhood education, and some folks working relentlessly to address the topic of clean energy, transforming solar energy into a more popular concept, translating it into a subject that is easier for residents to understand.” Tia Percília School has various activities centered on the environment. Children there are learning from an early age what solar energy is and seeing, from a practical point of view, how it works to convert the sun’s energy into electricity.
Similar work takes place at the Children’s World Community Daycare Center, a solar energy pilot project sponsored by another non-profit organization’s: Insolar. The community daycare, founded 38 years ago by women from the Santa Marta favela, also in Rio’s South Zone, implemented the solar system in 2016. The daycare was the project’s pilot, and in the last five years Insolar has installed over 200 solar panels in Santa Marta, the majority in common spaces used by residents, such as daycare centers, the Family Health Clinic, the Residents’ Association, as well as stations of the local funicular tram system.

Director of the Children’s World Community Daycare for 27 years, Adriana da Silva recalls that, when she initially received the solar plates installation proposal, she did not know much about solar energy. The expectation was to reduce electricity and allow for these savings to be used in improvements for the children’s physical spaces and nutrition. After implementation, electricity charges were significantly reduced, as promised. However, impacts noticed by Silva go beyond financial benefits. “This is a very valuable lesson because we learn so much, things that until then we only saw on television. When we see things up close, we see how they work, and then we can really tell how the electricity charges went down,” she says.
As the daycare center was the first place to have solar panels in Santa Marta, Silva recalls many people asking about the system. Over time, other institutions were included in the project and roof plates became a regular sighting in Santa Marta. Additionally, environmental education workshops and vocational courses helped popularize clean energy. “Within the community, lots of people were very curious. Nowadays they don’t ask as many questions as before. Coming up on the tram, you can see the solar panels in various spots. It was a novelty in the beginning, today it’s a more familiar sight,” notes Silva.
Spreading solar energy information is part of Verônica Moura’s mission. Moura was born and raised in Santa Marta and is Insolar’s ambassador. The first research done on site, during the project’s implementation phase, was carried out by community residents, trained in a course coordinated by Moura. Today, when she visits organizations that have photovoltaic systems, she feels great pride in the fact that the favela where she was born was one of the pioneers in solar energy.
The new scenario produced in recent years is part of everyday life for Santa Marta’s newer generations, who realize from a young age that the favela is a place of potential. “To see our children learning about it, seeing solar energy on the roofs of their institutions… They ask questions, they want to know, and this exchange is very important. From a young age they already know that, yes, we can have this technology in our community,” argues Moura, herself mother to a 12-year-old boy and an 8-month-old baby girl.
The solar energy system set up at the Children’s World Community Daycare, as well as at the Tia Percília School, in Babilônia, was possible due to the involvement of several partners who supported these projects with resources and technical knowledge. Insolar and RevoluSolar act as conduits, democratizing and facilitating solar energy access in the favelas. These organizations also give professional training to local residents, who in turn are able to implement new systems and maintain those already running in the community.
Employability and Income: Opportunities Flowing from Clean Energy
Leonardo Luis discovered solar energy between 2015 and 2016. At that time, he was unemployed and earned a living selling cleaning products at one of the entrances to Santa Marta. He recalls his greatest concern was to ensure his daughter’s livelihood. One day, he was invited by the co-founder of Insolar, Henrique Drumond, to participate in a training course to learn about electrical circuits and photovoltaic systems, as well as specific solar industry safety standards.

In the last module of the course, when Luis was starting to learn about solar power systems, the first projects were being set up at Santa Marta. Since the course completion in 2017, solar energy changed not only the scenery in the community, but Luis’ life as well. He is now an entrepreneur, leading a four-person team. All are Santa Marta residents and former Insolar professional training participants. “Today, I have made a name for myself in this market, one company recommends me to another,” says Luis, whose first jobs were on the community’s panels.
Professional qualification changed not only Luis’ life, but the lives of his inner circle of family and friends. “Solar energy changed everything in my life. I can also create opportunities by teaching other friends about solar energy and even take them, when possible, to work with me,” explains the entrepreneur. “I, who had never had a profession, was able to, all of a sudden, connect with this type of technology… it had an enormous impact on my and my family’s life. Today, all my brothers say they want to learn as well,” he says.

New Solutions, Old Problems: Solar Energy Challenges in the Favelas
The main mission of the Estrelas da Babilônia Hostel, a solar energy pilot project in the Babilônia favela, is to be a sustainable establishment. In addition to the 2016 solar panel installation, the building has a green roof and runs recycling and composting. One idea present from the very beginning was to reduce the impact of its operations on nature. Leading this small venture is a Colombian, Bibiana Gonçalves, who has been a resident of Babilônia for eight years.
“Solar energy for our little venture was an amazing thing, because it seemed like everything we were toiling for, the little profit we could generate from a favela business, went into paying for electricity,” Gonçalves says. In the first month of the solar panels’ operation, previous charges that ranged from R$950 (US$176) to R$1,300 (US$240) fell to about R$300 (US$55) per month. In a short time, electricity savings were used to pay off the loan taken out to buy the solar panels.
“The biggest challenge is the electric utility, Light,” explains Gonçalves, who complains about the difference between the service provided for customers located in the formal city versus those in the favela. Problems with Light began right at installation, when the hostel’s solar system was first connected to Light’s grid. “You have no idea how many calls I had to make to get the electric company to come and do its part,” she recalls.
According to Gonçalves, for the past two years, problems with Light not only became more frequent but have gotten worse. The power box to which the hostel’s solar system is connected started to malfunction. The electric company made several repairs until, in November of last year, the transformer stopped working altogether, leaving the hostel and all the residences on its street without power. If the solar panels cannot be connected to Light’s grid, there is no power. “All the temporary solutions found by the workers have stopped working. So, now, all the energy in my house is connected directly to the main supply, bypassing the meter. I am unable to measure my electricity consumption, I haven’t been generating solar energy, and all this amazing sunlight that’s been shining on the panels has been lost, and not even Light is benefitting from this energy,” Gonçalves explains. Light has included Gonçalves’ name on a bad payers list after she was unable to keep up with her electric bills which, without the solar panels, went back to exceed R$1,000 per month.
According to Eduardo Avila, executive director of RevoluSolar, the most commonly found solar energy systems in Brazil are those connected to the local power company’s grid, running in an integrated manner. When solar panels are installed, part of the grid’s equipment is replaced, such as the meter. In a conventional grid, meters run one way and measure only the energy consumed. In photovoltaic systems connected to the power company’s grid, on the other hand, the regular meter is replaced by a two-way indicator, which measures not only consumption, but also the electricity produced by the home itself. When the system generates excess energy, this electricity is injected into the main electric grid and individuals get credits which can later offset their regular bills.

Involved in several environmental projects, Gonçalves says she believes in solar energy’s potential, though she claims it is imperative that authorities and businesses change their attitude toward favelas. In her view: what is the point of investing, of dreaming, of working with technology, when public and private institutions, needed as partners for these projects to succeed, continue to underestimate favelas, continue to consider favelas as something inferior?
Asked to comment on the implementation of solar energy projects in favelas, as well as on the service issues encountered at the Ladeira Ari Barroso Mirante, where the Estrelas da Babilônia Hostel is located, Rio’s electric utility, Light, did not respond.
About the author: Jaqueline Suarez is a journalist and master’s student at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF), in Niterói. She is also a community journalist and independent documentary filmmaker. She lives in the favela of Fallet, in Santa Teresa, Central Rio.
About the artist: A student of visual arts, an artist and a graffiti artist, Gilberto FAO is also a cultural organizer and an independent events producer. He lives in the neighborhood of Chácara Santana, in Capão Redondo, in the South Zone of São Paulo. 
This article is part of a series on energy justice and efficiency in Rio’s favelas.  Support RioOnWatch’s tireless, critical and cutting-edge hyperlocal journalism, online community organizing meetings, and direct support to favelas by clicking here. 

Rio de Janeiro

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RevoluSolar

Municipality of Rio de Janeiro

<p>RevoluSolar, a community-based nonprofit organization in Rio de Janeiro, has launched a solar energy cooperative that will provide electricity for 35 local families.&nbsp;</p>