In an article published on February 24, 2026, Marcelo Rodrigues, Vice President of Business, Marketing and Innovation at UCB Power, proposes that Brazil take Latin American leadership in residential battery adoption. Inspired by Caloi's old advertising slogan, the executive argues that the desire for energy autonomy has already reached Brazilian homes and that the country, with more than 3.6 million solar rooftops, still makes little use of the resilience and grid services potential that distributed storage can offer.
Australia and the United Kingdom as benchmarks
The text uses two international experiences to show that the model already works at scale. In Australia, one in three homes with solar generation operates with a battery, and the country went from virtually no systems to more than 250,000 batteries installed in 2025. According to the author, the leap came from a combination of state incentives, an active local industry and extreme weather events, but the decisive factor was the creation of a market that rewards system value. Virtual power plant (VPP) programs, such as those of the South Australian government, aggregate thousands of home batteries to provide grid stability services.
In the United Kingdom, the innovation was in the business model. Octopus Energy concluded that operational complexity deterred ordinary consumers as much as equipment price. With Octopus Powerloop, the company offers battery as a service (BaaS): the customer gets simplified access to the equipment, while the company operates the asset via software, aggregates the systems into a VPP and uses that capacity to help balance the national grid.
The size of the opportunity in Brazil
The article cites ABSolar studies according to which installing storage in 20% of the current distributed generation base would create more than 10 GWh of capacity spread across the country, comparable to several pumped-storage hydropower plants, but with faster deployment and located close to consumption.
Another highlighted point is a market that usually stays out of the solar conversation: the more than 7 million apartments without space for their own panels. For these residents, the battery would work as an anti-blackout kit, keeping lighting, internet, refrigeration and essential appliances running during power outages. The author mentions dense cities such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Recife and Fortaleza as natural targets. Home offices, clinics, schools and shops also appear as direct beneficiaries of supply continuity.
The fronts that need to advance
For Rodrigues, the obstacle is not technological but ecosystem-related. He points to five parallel fronts:
- Mindset: treating the battery as home infrastructure rather than an additional cost of the solar project.
- Regulation: ANEEL and MME should define rules for VPPs and the aggregation of distributed resources, formally recognize the value of storage and create a standardized, digital and fast connection and approval process.
- User experience: plug-and-play systems with apps that show autonomy, backup time and contribution to the grid.
- Business models: subscriptions, long-term green financing and revenue sharing via VPPs.
- Value chain: installers and integrators trained to sell value and provide after-sales service.
What changes in practice for the BESS sector
The article does not announce a new regulation, but it organizes an agenda that should shape the regulatory discussion. For manufacturers and suppliers, the message is that there is a potentially large residential market, but capturing it depends on aggregation rules and simplified approval. Until ANEEL addresses virtual power plants, grid services revenue remains out of reach, and the sales pitch is limited to resilience and backup.
For developers and EPCs, the idea gains strength that storage is not limited to large plants: distributed projects, condominiums and small businesses could form aggregable portfolios in the future. This requires thinking now about equipment with communication and remote control compatible with VPP operation.
Finally, integrators and installers need to prepare for models such as subscription and battery as a service, which shift the focus from selling equipment to managing the asset over time. Those who closely follow regulatory developments and build these capabilities are likely to get ahead when the rules are defined.
Original source: ABSAE — “Eu quero minha bateria”: a virada estratégica do setor elétrico