Brazil's cumulative installed solar photovoltaic capacity reached 1.6 GW

According to official statistics, by the end of June 2018, Brazil's installed capacity of large-scale solar energy reached 1,307 MW, while the installed capacity of distributed photovoltaic power generation (under 5 MW) was 296 MW.

In the past 12 months, 1.
36 GW of new grid-connected PV capacity has been installed
.

Brazil had 1,601 MW of grid-connected solar installed capacity
at the end of June 2018, according to the monthly bulletin of Brazil's Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) on power system monitoring.

As of the end of June 2017, utility-scale solar accounted for only 145 megawatts, while distributed installations totaled 92 megawatts
.
This means that a total of 1.
36 GW have been connected to the country's grid in the last 12 months, with growth in both sectors stronger
than ever.

However, the majority of this 1.
36 GW was installed in the second half of
2017.
In fact, MEM highlighted that only 337.
9 megawatts
of new solar power was installed in the first six months of the year.

Despite this strong growth, solar energy accounts for only 1% of Brazil's total electricity generation, of which 0.
8% includes large-scale solar power facilities and 0.
2% comes from distributed generation
.

Hydropower remains the largest source of electricity at 63.
7%, followed by coal-fired power plants (including biomass) with 27.
2%.

Wind energy is the third largest source of electricity, accounting for 8.
1% and installed capacity of 12.
9 GW
.

Looking ahead, MEM said it expects newly installed PV capacity to reach 490.
2 MW in 2018, compared to 495.
1 MW
in 2019.
However, MEMs generally provide conservative forecasts, especially due to the huge potential of distributed generation, where PV installations in the next two years are likely to be much
larger.