Favela Marte, located in São José do Rio Preto, in upstate São Paulo, will be the first community in Latin America to be fully powered by solar panels. The site will serve as a model for a broad project that promises to generate income and social development for its residents.
Known as Vila Itália, the community began to emerge in 2014. For several years, the residents were the target of lawsuits aimed at evicting them from the private land. A turning point came when the area was chosen to serve as a model for the “Favela 3D” project—standing for dignified, digital, and developed environments.
The initiative was developed by the NGO Gerando Falcões and includes the implementation of various actions supported by both the public and private sectors.
For instance, the bank BV and the fintech company Meu Financiamento Solar will finance the installation of solar panels on all 240 homes in the community.
In total, more than 1,000 solar panels will be installed on homes and common areas by June 2023. To achieve this, public housing capable of supporting the panels will be built through the State Housing and Urban Development Company (CDHU).
According to project estimates, each family will save between R$ 4,000 and R$ 6,000 per year on electricity bills. Consequently, residents will only have to pay the minimum fee charged by the energy distributor.
“An initiative like this, which will provide savings on electricity bills for families living in the favela, is extremely important, alongside many other initiatives being carried out to end poverty,” says Nina Rentel, Director of Social Technologies at Gerando Falcões.
BV and Meu Financiamento Solar will also offer technical courses on installing solar energy systems, helping to provide professional training for the community's residents.
The municipal government will be responsible for regularizing the land and carrying out infrastructure works, such as water, sewage, and power networks, as well as street paving.
Partnerships
The initiative is also built on pillars such as access to healthcare, the right to education, citizenship, women's empowerment, and income generation, alongside culture, sports, and leisure. To this end, Gerando Falcões continues to seek partnerships to expand its reach.
In collaboration with the Volkswagen Group Foundation, the NGO plans, for example, to establish two cooperatives in Favela Marte: one for selective waste collection and another for crafts and sewing.
Recently, Edu Lyra, CEO of Gerando Falcões, also used the SXSW festival in the United States to invite billionaire Elon Musk to invest in his urbanization project for Brazilian favelas.
Investment in Favela Marte
It is estimated that over R$ 52 million will be invested in the urbanization plan for Favela Marte. Around R$ 28 million will come from the São Paulo state government. The NGO Gerando Falcões has raised approximately R$ 15 million from private sector partners, while the Rio Preto city government expects to invest another R$ 15 million.
“This is a collective effort, made by many hands, a team where everyone plays together. We are building this with immense goodwill and well-distributed resources, in a complex project that will serve as a model for Brazil,” stated Mayor Edinho Araújo during a meeting held in late 2021 with project stakeholders.
In a decree signed last week, the mayor declared the private land where the community is located to be of public utility. The area measures about 25,000 square meters, equivalent to half of the favela. This is the first step toward purchasing and regularizing the land. The other half of the occupied area already belongs to the city.
Via CicloVivo.
This article was written by Marcia Sousa. The translation is powered by AI.
