Net Metering in Brazil: Regulation, Opportunities and Challenges

Net metering schemes have been used in many countries to push distributed generation (mainly solar photovoltaic) development. In Brazil, regulation came into effect in 2012 but recent update has made substantial changes in the regulatory framework in order to reduce barriers and provide more favorable conditions for the development of small scale renewable energy based distributed generation in the country. However, because it is a new subject, which requires in-depth studies and an adjustment period, many questions arise regarding its operation. Thus, this paper presents an analysis of the different net metering schemes possibilities in Brazil and its insertion in the national regulatory background. Results show that Brazilian net metering scheme has great potential for encouraging small scale solar photovoltaic in Brazil, providing great business opportunities and low payback time. However, challenges such as electricity taxation and distribution network operators' revenue have to be addressed smartly in the near future in order to push market development without compromising distributed generation viability.