ENGIE is one of the first companies in the Brazilian energy sector to obtain Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA) registration as a supplier of photovoltaic systems eligible to family farming entities for financing. With this, the company’s product receives accreditation so that its acquisition can be made under the National Program for Strengthening Family Farming (PRONAF) financed by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), as for example, through the PRONAF More Food program permitting rural producers to invest in renewable energy up to a ceiling of R$ 165 thousand with a repayment schedule of ten years and an annual interest rate of 2.5%, one the lowest in the market.

Registration of a product eligible for financing by MDA comes with certain restrictions including price, local content (in order to receive FINAME financing) and the company’s membership of the Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Energy Association (Associação Brasileira de Energia Solar Fotovoltaica – ABSOLAR). The company satisfies all these requirements. “Solar energy is a readily available and viable resource which has come to provide an added boost to Brazilian agribusiness”, says Rodolfo de Sousa Pinto, president at ENGIE Solar. “And the obtaining of the MDA code by ENGIE brings rural producers closer still to this resource now they can count on easy finance to acquire the systems”, he says.  Solar energy is undergoing rapid expansion in Brazil with the number of installed photovoltaic systems surpassing the 20 thousand unit mark in January of this year, nearly three times greater than the 7.7 thousand in early 2017.

Clean energy is more economic for agribusiness
The investment in a photovoltaic solar generation system is most attractive to rural producers because in the light of financing alternatives available, in some cases the discount on the value of the monthly energy bill is equivalent to the installment payable on the financing: what is saved on the light bill is used for paying off the loan installments. Again, when the loan is finally liquidated, the producer will have a system for generating electricity on his property almost free of charge thanks to the solar panels which enjoy low maintenance costs and a guarantee of energy generation over a 25-year period.

How the technology works
A photovoltaic solar energy system also known as a solar energy system or, again, a photovoltaic system, generates electrical energy from solar radiation. Normally installed on rooftops, the technology is the most popular one on the planet for distributed clean and renewable microgeneration of energy. Homes and companies which have these systems produce their own energy which they consume, any surplus being injected into the electricity distribution network and transformed into credits with the Distributor. Such credits have a five year validity and are used when the unit is consuming more energy than is being generated, as is the case at nights or on rainy days.