Solidarity Solar

Solar energy is a clean source that helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. It is also a renewable and inexhaustible resource. Despite technological advances that make its use increasingly efficient, access to this form of energy remains limited in many underprivileged areas.

Solidarity Solar was created to make solar energy accessible to all. Integrated into the EDP Y.E.S. – You Empower Society programme, this initiative is developed in partnership with local organisations and promotes the installation of self-consumption solar systems in low-income or rural communities with limited access to energy infrastructure. More than just providing electricity, Solar Solidário helps improve living conditions and community development, fosters social inclusion, and supports a more sustainable future.

This programme is active in Portugal, Spain, Brazil, the United States, and Greece, reinforcing EDP’s commitment to a just energy transition and to the social development of the regions where it operates.

Global Impact

As part of this project, more than 1,700 solar panels have already been implemented in communities and schools around the world, having already impacted more than 6,300 people and avoided the emission of more than 220 tons of CO2.

In Spain, in 2019, Cáritas de Vigo (Galicia) and the NGO Una Ciudad para Todos, in Gijón (Asturias) were the first to be awarded the initiative, followed by the Caritas centers of Córdoba, Osma-Soria, Andújar and Mondoñedo (Andalusia), and it is expected that other buildings in more regions of Spain will also benefit. With the installation of solar panels, these buildings start to generate clean and renewable energy, reducing electricity costs and contributing to the preservation of the environment and to the improvement of the quality of life of many people.

In addition, the project also promotes education and awareness about the importance of using green energy in the transition to a more sustainable economy. With the installation of solar panels, these buildings start to generate clean and renewable energy, reducing electricity costs and contributing to the preservation of the environment and to the improvement of the quality of life of many people. In addition, the project also promotes education and awareness about the importance of using green energy in the transition to a more sustainable economy.

In Brazil, a small solar power plant is being created to supply a community with 210 families in São Paulo. In this community that faces several challenges, including lack of access to basic services, such as water and electricity, EDP's initiative is also installing solar panels in many houses and carrying out environmental education activities about the use of sustainable energy.

Finally, in Portugal, the Solar Solidário project started in 2022 in the neighborhood of Cova da Moura, a community located on the outskirts of Lisbon, which faces challenges related to the lack of basic infrastructure, namely electricity. Ensuring access to renewable energy in communities that do not have adequate electrical infrastructure is one of the objectives of EDP's solidarity project. In this first action of the EDP project, around 150 families in the neighborhood each received two solar panels for energy production and an efficient refrigerator as a complement.

In 2024, Solar Solidário also reached needy communities in Kansas (USA) and Lycros (Greece), where almost 300 solar panels were installed in community infrastructures, mostly educational, from schools to universities.