Solar Technologies as a Driver to Limit Energy Poverty in the Rocinha Favela

In developing countries, the constant conditions of economic and social crises resulted in a continuous expansion of non-regulated solutions to access energy services, especially in low-income settlements of urban areas such as Brazilian favelas, where people rely on illegal connections to the power grid, called gato, to fulfil their energy needs. An appropriate exploitation of renewable energy could reduce these energy thefts, contributing to urban sustainability and creating employment opportunities for locals. This section presents the results of a study developed for a pilot area within the favela of Rocinha, meant to establish ways to limit energy poverty, by spreading access to renewable energy. Both the favela’s energy uses, the potential of local climate and of photovoltaic (PV) panel’s production, have been assessed, leading to the proposal of a solar district based on the use of PV and of battery storage systems. In addition to it, the deployment of an urban management system (UMS), able to manage data coming from different urban facilities, will contribute to outline a new sustainable culture on the use of energy and urban services through the active participation of consumers.