Brazil

The Intersolar South America trade show drew 650 exhibitors and 55,000 visitors in August, highlighting industry growth with new pavilions on storage and electric mobility. Brazil is on track to reach 47.2 GW of installed solar capacity by the end of this year, with 11 GW of new PV capacity additions, according to Brazilian PV association ABsolar.

Eternit S.A., a Brazilian construction materials supplier, says it has developed a 50 W panel for building-integrated PV (BIPV) applications. The 1 kg module features monocrystalline passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) tech.

Agriculture accounts for 21.5% of Brazil’s gross domestic product and 27% of its emissions. PV companies are now targeting an industry that represents 14% of the nation’s small-scale installations. With credit incentives and growing familiarity with the technology, agribusinesses and solar specialists are discovering new opportunities for collaboration.

New research shows that achieving universal electricity access in the Amazon region will require up to 15 million PV modules and more than $7.4 billion in investments.

As Brazil starts its low-carbon hydrogen program, industry consolidation continues with two M&A operations in Italy and Texas. 

The plant will be located in the reservoir of the Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant. The tender is open until September 5, and the designated time period for the installation of the floating solar plant is about four months.

The company opened an inverter factory in the Manaus Free Trade Zone with a capacity of 1.8 GW, or 300,000 units per year. In the second phase, it plans to bring in the production of hybrid inverters and lithium batteries as well as chargers for electric vehicles and motors for electric boats. The company will have distribution centers in Curitiba and Fortaleza to ensure rapid delivery of equipment to the domestic market, with a minimum warranty of 10 years.

The rapid growth of renewable energy in Brazil has not been matched by transmission and distribution infrastructure. Connection restrictions for both “distributed-” and centralized-generation sites are leading companies to adopt new strategies to maintain expansion, reports pv magazine Brasil’s Livia Neves.

Despite global overcapacity, several factors may contribute to a slight increase in solar panel prices in Brazil, with shipping costs and quotas for fiscal exemptions on imported PV modules playing a key role.

The BRL 950 million ($175 million) São João do Paracatu solar park in Minas Gerais employs 500,000 solar modules distributed over an area of ​​509 hectares and counts clients in the areas of mining, magnesium industrialization and plastic production and recycling.