Re-adjustment of up to 64% in tariff flags makes solar more competitive
Consumers with PV systems save up to 4 times more on their electric bill, even in red flag situations
Modify tariff flags
Consumers across Brazil will pay more on their electricity bills the more there is an increase in the cost of producing electricity in the country. On July 1, the readjustment of up to 64% of approved tariff flags was approved. National Electric Energy Agency (a snake).
With this said, solar energy presents itself as a viable alternative to lower electricity costs, with savings of up to 75%.
“If in the previous tariff the PV system was very economically viable, now, with these high adjustments, it becomes more competitive. Self-producing energy brings more freedom to the consumer, because it consumes what is generated and discounts the surplus in the compensation system.
In these cases, the impact is much less because the additional cost of the signage is only factored into the net monthly electricity bill,” explains Gilherme Nagamine, director of L8 Energy, a company that specializes in manufacturing and distributing photovoltaic systems.
According to L8 Energy data, savings for those with PV systems can be up to 75%. A family in Curitiba, for example, where the energy tariff is R$ 0.83 per kWh, with a monthly consumption of 600 kWh, would spend R$498.00 per month on the green flag.
If this residence was producing 450 kWh per month, through a solar system, the bill would be R$124.50. Check out the simulation done by the company’s engineering department:
Comparing energy bills with and without a red flag in dwellings with or without solar generation
The savings achieved may vary according to the generation capacity of each PV system and the tariffs adopted by each operator. For Guilherme Nagamine, in addition to the financial advantage, solar energy brings other benefits to the consumer. “It is environmentally sustainable, as it does not produce any kind of waste during generation and uses renewable resources. In addition, we have sunlight all year round, which provides stability in production, not depending on precipitation, like a hydroelectric system, for example, as he says.
How does tariff science work?
Tariff flag is an additional fee that is applied to electricity bills when the cost of production in the country increases and is not linked to the annual adjustment made by the operators. “Our energy matrix is still very dependent on water resources and we have felt this effect in recent years with the drought.
Last year, when drought worsened, an exceptional science was created, the science of water scarcity, with higher values, and it remained in force until April of this year,” Nagamine recalls.
The new values of the tariff flags are valid until mid-2023. In the case of the green flag (currently in effect), there is no additional fee. For the yellow flag, the adjustment was 59.5%, from R$1,874 to R$2,989 for every 100 kWh consumed.
The biggest increase, 63.7%, was at the red flag level 1, which rose from R$3,971 to R$6,500. Red Flag Level 2 increased by 3.2%, from R$9,492 to R$9,795 for every 100 kWh consumed.
