Approximately 760 thousand people in the Brazilian Amazon live without access to electric energy (EPE, 2023), because they are in spots not connected to the network used by the concessionaires to distribute electricity. According to EPE (2023), most of these so-called “isolated systems'' are supplied with diesel oil fueled generators (58,3%). However, in the very remote villages, diesel and gasoline are expensive and difficult to acquire. Co-designing a clean energy supply system with them poses a multifaceted task, but, more than the supply side, to keep these systems running for a long time is an even greater challenge, since a large number of projects do not succeed due to issues related to their maintenance. In this paper, we present the primary field initiatives and results of the group in charge of the project “Convergence for Innovative Energy Solutions – Empowering Off-Grid Communities with Sustainable Energy Technologies'' in four communities inserted in a protected area in the Brazilian Amazon. In two of them, after discussing with the residents about the best way to address their electricity needs through workshops, meetings and questionnaires, we installed micro-systems of generation and distribution of electricity (MIGDIs): a hydrokinetic turbine and one micro solar PV plant that supply all the houses and common spots for four hours a day (one hour more than they had using diesel oil generators). We executed the installations alongside with the residents and, regarding the hydrokinetic turbine, we followed their suggestions about the best spot to place it, after monitoring and measuring the speed of the river for about one year, in three different spots. Before installing the systems, we offered training sessions on basic knowledge of solar PV systems and, after the installations, we offered training sessions on community management of electricity generation systems. The MIGDIs aren’t the usual choice to power tiny communities because they are not considered feasible in a context where the federal programs of universalization of electricity, mostly financed by the government, are operated by concessionaires. The usual choice are the individual electricity generation systems (SIGFIs). We suspect that it happens not due to the financial costs of the MIGDIs (that are actually usually lower than the costs of the SIGFIs), but because of the costs that regard the organization of the communities. In the case of the SIGFIs, the concern about keeping the system is a responsibility of the owner, while the MIGDIs must be managed collectively by the community members, meaning that the longevity of these systems implies a certain community organization.The more organized people are, the better they will claim for their rights when it comes to calling the concessionaires to action whenever maintenance is needed.
