In the Brazilian Amazon, solar energy brings light -- and new opportunities
by Ana Ionova on 4 January 2022
SANTA HELENA DO INGLÊS, Brazil — In a small clearing at the edge of the rainforest, two rows of solar panels gleam in the scorching late-morning sun. In a shed nearby, inverters hum quietly as they turn the sunlight into electricity, powering a church, a school and a few dozen homes in the village of Santa Helena do Inglês, in the Brazilian Amazon.
The solar energy also powers a heavy freezer tucked inside Pedro Vidal de Mendonça’s tiny grocery store, a few meters above the banks of the Negro River in Amazonas state, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the state capital, Manaus. Mendonça stores freshly caught fish in it, freezing his supplies until potential buyers show up to the village by motorboat.
“When they ask, ‘Mr. Pedro, do you have any peacock bass’ — there it is!” Mendonça says as he gestures toward the freezer whirring in the back corner of the wooden kiosk that serves as his store. He sells his fish for about 50-60 reais ($9-$10) apiece. “That’s how I earn my living,” he tells Mongabay proudly.
Things weren’t always so simple in Santa Helena do Inglês, a riverside village that is home to about 130 people. Until a few months ago, energy came and went with little warning.
Santa Helena do Inglês, a village on the banks of the Negro River in Amazonas state, in the Brazilian Amazon. Image courtesy of Rodolfo Pongelupe/Fundação Amazônia Sustentável.
More:
https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/in-the-brazilian-amazon-solar-energy-brings-light-and-new-opportunities/