IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2020 - 38

"Making" the Sun Rise Over the Favelas
While the Solar Map casts shadows of exclusion over the
poor territories, local voices of these same territories
heard during ethnographic research in the Babilônia
and Chapéu Mangueira favelas (Figure 2) [19] showed a
struggle against exclusion.
One relevant example is the community leader of
Morro do Leme, André Constantini, who emphasizes
other exclusions such as the absence of the State in the
favelas. He established as a counterpoint, the vocation
of the communities of these territories to struggle
against such exclusion by means of self-management
and solidarity practices, so evident in the communitarian mutirões (common self-management practices within Brazilian favelas) [19, p. 130-131].
Pol Dhuyvetter, a Belgian activist that has lived in
Babylon and worked on the installation of the first photovoltaic systems in that favela (Figure 7), stated that it
was possible to provide electricity to all households
from photovoltaic systems on their roofs. Together
with other community leaders, such as the electrician
Adalberto Almeida, they founded RevoluSolar, an association
to promote energy production in the favela from alternative sources, especially solar [19].

FIGURE 7. First photovoltaic systems installed in the Babilônia

favela. Source: Revolusolar. Available: https://bit.ly/2QAQwuS
and https://bit.ly/2EHgx72.
38

Almeida proudly remembered how he became one
of the first electricians within the favela with an educational background in photovoltaic systems.
I have lived in Babilônia for 11 years, I came from
the northeast of Brazil to not let my family be in
need. [...] I started as a janitor in a condominium
in Copacabana, then I moved to Leme, and never
stopped studying. The way to change your life is
by studying! I continued studying, [...] I took electricity classes. [...] I am one of the first solar panels installers of a favela. I already worked in three
projects: the two pilot projects in Babilônia and
one in Ilha do Governador [19, pp. 105-106].
It is possible to say from these lines that while certain relationships operate in exclusion, there is also a
constant struggle to overcome exclusion. While the
solar map "made" the sun not rise over the favela, local
initiatives have opened important breaches in the
clouds of exclusion to illuminate these territories.

The Sun Will Shine Again
The choices we make produce realities, even when we
are developing technology. In this way, it is convenient to
say that the Solar Map produces a reality where the favelas of Rio de Janeiro are absent. Therefore, a digital
application such as the Solar Map carries within itself
not only a strictly technological logic of a software, of an
online and interactive technology stricto sensu, but also
conducts a logic that can include or exclude communities and territories from their effects and functionalities.
That could bring it closer or further away, making it possible or impossible for certain audiences to have access
to the resources to which the application was reportedly
created to foster. The narrative that has been forged in
this paper about the development of the Solar Map gives
an account of its many layers of information, and also
reveals the multiple layers of exclusion of the favelas.
Why is this relevant? One of the most important commercial arguments, if not the main one, for the adoption
of solar energy is the possibility of the consumer himself,
now also understood as a micro producer (prosumer), to
produce cleaner and cheaper energy. In the case of lowincome communities, especially the favelas of Rio de
Janeiro, the issue of solar energy emerges as a possibility
of energy inclusion, making it easier to have legal access
to electricity.8 The use of a clean, renewable source - with
decentralized control - such as a solar photovoltaic energy
source, is also understood as supporting policies to
8
For examples of energy inclusion initiatives in favelas via solar ones see the
initiatives of the production cooperative Revolusolar and the Insolar company. Available: https://revolusolar.wordpress.com/ and https://insolar.eco.br/.
[Accessed: May 20, 2019].

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

∕

MARCH 2020

https://www.bit.ly/2QAQwuS https://revolusolar.wordpress.com/ https://insolar.eco.br/ https://www.bit.ly/2EHgx72

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2020

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