Families gather to watch television, use their mobiles and cook inside illuminated huts, thanks to newly installed solar panels in the village of Piyulaga. While it is a crucial region for hydroelectric generation and oil extraction, the Amazon is also home to many populations cut off from electricity grids. Photo Credit: Flávia Milhorance / Dialogue Earth
EnvironmentSociety Amazon RainforestRemote Residents in These Countries Now Have Solar Electricity in Their Homes!
Houses in the Amazon regions of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru have been equipped with solar panels, providing residents with clean, cheap, and low-maintenance electricity and empowering communities.
“In remote regions, the choice of solar energy has a universal consensus,” states Vinícius Oliveira, project leader at the Institute for Energy and the Environment, a non-profit organization promoting public policies on energy and transport.
Even though those four Amazon regions account for more than 80% of the tropical rainforest biome, they each have the lowest levels of electricity coverage in their respective country. The Luz para Todos – Light for All in Portuguese – Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s current government’s flagship policy intends to electrify 228,000 houses with renewable energy by 2026. In the Peruvian Amazon, installing solar panels connects communities and strengthens surveillance and forest protection across large territories. In Ecuador, 121 solar systems have been installed in 16 communities with territorial guards using clean energy to charge drones, GPS, and other surveillance equipment. “We must implement projects that benefit [the communities], creating autonomy and without harming the environment and culture,” says Hernán Payaguaje, co-founder of the Ceibo Alliance.
