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"We can not work just to pay the bill," complained José Hilário dos Santos, president of the Morro de Santa Marta Residents Association, a favela or favela crowded in Botafogo, a traditional middle-class neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro.
The high cost of electricity in the favela is due to consumption estimates made by Light , the local electricity distributor, based on telemetry, without reading the meters in each house, Santos believes.
"The bill is high even when you are not at home when you are traveling," he lamented.
The constant increase in electricity over the years has turned solar energy into a general desire, especially among the poor in the favelas, who account for almost a quarter of Rios 6.6 million inhabitants, because the electricity bill absorbs a large proportion. of their income.
Mandundu Muziala Washiwa, an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, now a tour guide in Rio de Janeiro, is in front of the tourist information booth at the entrance to the Morro de Santa Marta favela, whose electricity comes from two solar panels. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
Mandundu Muziala Washiwa, an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, now a tour guide in Rio de Janeiro, is in front of the tourist information booth at the entrance to the Morro de Santa Marta favela, whose electricity comes from two solar panels.
At least 15 Santa Marta public institutions already have solar installations that reduce their energy costs, thanks to Insolar, a "social business" company that has been working in the neighborhood since 2015.
Four daycare centers, churches, the Residents Association, a music school and the local samba school now have solar power systems, with the support of Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell.
Now the idea is to extend the initiative to 30 companies in the "hill" or hill where the favela of Santa Marta is located. In addition to that, Insolar is seeking funding to install pilot systems in 14 other favelas in Rio de Janeiro to expand solar energy, for which there is a growing demand in these areas, said Henrique Drumond, the companys founder.
"Our goal is to democratize solar energy," he explained. "We are doing this together with the local people, involving them throughout the process, training local manpower," he told IPS, who made several visits to Santa Marta and other favelas to talk to residents about the arrival of solar energy in their lives. and their economies.
In Santa Marta, 35 people completed a course in electricity and installation of solar panels, and some of them are working in this area today, Drumond said. "People are our main asset," he said.
The first institution benefited was the community child care Mundo Mundo , founded in 1983 by local women, in order to facilitate the work of the mothers. Today it serves 60 children from one to four years of age with 13 staff and "occasional volunteers."
The electricity that cost the center about 300 reais ($ 80) per month dropped to zero several times. "We use the savings to improve the childrens diet," said director Adriana da Silva, who said that the financial contribution she receives from the city government is insufficient.
A view of the terrace with the statue of the late American pop star Michael Jackson, who in 1996 recorded a music video in Santa Marta that transformed this poor neighborhood into a hill of Rio de Janeiro into a tourist attraction. At the front, the "solar tree" with photovoltaic panels and a battery to generate electricity capable of providing emergency lighting, such as blackouts, and with plugs to charge mobile devices. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
A view of the terrace with the statue of the late American pop star Michael Jackson, who in 1996 recorded a music video in Santa Marta that transformed this poor neighborhood into a hill of Rio de Janeiro into a tourist attraction. At the front, the "solar tree" with photovoltaic panels and a battery to generate electricity capable of providing emergency lighting, such as blackouts, and with plugs to charge mobile devices. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
The largest solar installation was installed in another nursery, CEPAC , in the lower and better urbanized part of Santa Marta, which serves an average of 150 children and is linked to a Catholic primary and secondary school, Santo Inácio.
"The electricity bill came to almost $ 5,000 in 2016 and fell to a fifth of that," said Janaina Santos, an academic director at the Jesuit educational center in a five-story building. In that case, the savings were used to expand the library and teaching materials.
"The school has become a point of reference and even receives visits from university students. In addition, the environmental issue is important; we have made the kids aware about energy and waste recycling, "she said.
In fact, Santa Marta has become a showcase of solar energy. The Morro de Santa Marta Residents Association has also obtained a solar panel system that brings savings equivalent to $ 80 per month, according to its president.
Battery-powered units and reflectors illuminate alleys, courtyards, and other important locations when frequent local power outages occur. The streetcar that takes people up to the hill of 360 meters, where the 4 thousand inhabitants of Santa Marta live, also has emergency solar lighting.
Several of these points offer passersby plugs to charge cell phone batteries.
The tourist information office for people who want to visit the favela uses only energy generated by two solar panels, which are stored in a small battery.
The 12 guides that accompany the visitors are residents of Santa Marta, accredited by the Ministry of Tourism. Several of them took the installation course of solar panels organized by Insolar.
The president of the Morro de Santa Marta Residents Association, José Hilario dos Santos, is in his solar energy office in the favela, which is in the middle-class neighborhood of Botafogo, in Rio de Janeiro. The steep streets of the favela house about 4,000 people. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
The president of the Morro de Santa Marta Residents Association, José Hilario dos Santos, is in his solar energy office in the favela, which is in the middle-class neighborhood of Botafogo, in Rio de Janeiro. The steep streets of the favela house about 4,000 people. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
"I offer my services as an electrician," said one of them, Carlos Barbosa, who is also a hairdresser and environmental activist.
"Each week, one of the twelve is in charge of opening the book at 8am and guiding the first visit, which may be individual or group," said Mandundu Muziala Washiwa, a 50-year-old Democratic Party man. Republic of Congo who came to Brazil to "travel" in 2006 and stayed.
Then, on a first come, first served basis, the guides take turns. They are independent and earn what tourists pay, charging $ 13 for Brazilians and 40% for foreigners, a fixed but flexible price.
A statue of legendary American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson, on a terrace in central Santa Marta, where he recorded a music video in 1996, is "the main tourist attraction that ensures we have work," said the Congolese tour guide.
"The flow of tourists was strong during the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, but violence in the city grew and demand fell," said Washiwa, who speaks French, which also helps find jobs elsewhere.
He is designing a project for a tour of downtown Rio de Janeiro, showing monuments, buildings and other landmarks in the Brazilian history of slaves brought from Africa.
On the terrace with the statue of Jackson, who died in 2009, Andreia Miranda, 38, sells singers souvenirs, t-shirts and pop-related objects to a small shop where she hopes to have solar power soon.
The elevator train used by the residents of the Santa Marta favela in the south of Rio de Janeiro was built on a 360-meter-high hill. At stations, small solar systems provide power for emergency lighting and sockets for charging mobile phone batteries. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
The elevator train used by the residents of the Santa Marta favela in the south of Rio de Janeiro was built on a 360-meter-high hill. At stations, small solar systems provide power for emergency lighting and sockets for charging mobile phone batteries. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
"I spent 960 reais (255 reais) last month, I have to use the air conditioning because of the heat and I intend to expand the store. Now its the business turn to seek help from Insolar, "said Miranda, who chairs the Santa Marta Chamber of Commerce and estimates there are 100 companies in the community," double that eight years ago. "
"We paid an absurd price for electricity, more than the rich in the city," she said, agreeing with the director of the Mundo Infantil crèche.
A similar complaint was made by Bibiana Ángel, a 35-year-old Colombian immigrant who in 2016 installed a solar system at her hotel in Babilônia, a shantytown near the famous Copacabana beach in southern Rio de Janeiro.
The savings on the electric bill of about 600 reais ($ 160) per month already allowed her to pay in just two years the loan with which she bought her 12 photovoltaic panels.
But the Stars Hotel is an environmental project, he said. In addition to solar energy, it uses light bulbs and low energy equipment and grows seedlings in a small nursery that donates plants or uses them in the hotel garden.
It also separates waste for recycling, and recyclable materials are delivered to Light, which in turn reduces the light bill.
A group of local residents are trying to create a cooperative whose goal is to install solar energy in peoples homes to improve living conditions in the favela. But they are facing difficulties in costs as well as rules of distributed generation. |
