Towards a sociology of energy and globalization: Interconnectedness, capital, and knowledge in the Brazilian solar photovoltaic industry

• New approach to the energy studies using methodological cosmopolitanism is proposed.
• The transboundary causalities in the PV international market are presented.
• The Brazilian PV industry is analyzed in the context of its global interconnectedness.
• Policies and incentives for the development of the PV industry in Brazil are discussed.
• The link between energy studies and the sociology of globalization is demonstrated.

Brazil has enormous silicon reserves and solar irradiance levels, but the participation of solar energy in its electricity mix was inexpressive until recently. However, the current policies of the Brazilian government have been responsible for an increasing deployment of photovoltaic (PV) systems and thus provided more favorable conditions for the emergence of a national PV industry. This article analyzes the development of the Brazilian PV sector in its “interconnectedness” with the global renewable energy market and therefore is presented as a contribution for the energy studies, as well as an empirical case for the “sociology of globalization”. The Chinese policies for photovoltaic energy are taken as parameter for the discussion of the Brazilian experience in order to highlight the growing importance of renewable energy investments in emerging economies and the decisive role played by the national States in pushing forward the renewable energy industry as a strategic sector for their privileged insertion in the competitive global order.