Many people in the photovoltaic sector have heard me tell a story from when I was a child. One day, when I was still little, I was at my grandmother's house. I went to open the refrigerator and ended up getting a shock, the kind that leaves you glued to the doorknob.
The scare was so great that my grandmother needed a broomstick to pull out the plug. A remarkable event like that made me very careful when dealing with electrical energy.
Therefore, when I decided to enter the photovoltaic sector and visited a fair in China to meet suppliers, my questions in meetings were always “isn’t this dangerous?”, “can it give a shock?”, “can it cause a fire?”.
Our initial decision for APsystems microinverters was precisely for safety reasons. In this regard, we cannot put a price on technology. For the rest, we discuss how much it is worth, how much it costs, how much we can sell it for.
But security is priceless. If since we started we have managed to save at least one life, all the effort will have been worth it. When Ecori entered the photovoltaic market in 2014, we decided that safety would always be a non-negotiable value for us, which is in our DNA.
I remember our roadshows in 2015, 2016, when we were already talking about the need for professional qualifications and concerns about safety. People thought we were exaggerating, talking nonsense.
Our initial choice of equipment from APsystems and SolarEdge, and more recently also optimisers from Huawei, with MLPE technology are a clear sign of our concern – as are all our training efforts, encouragement of professionalization and certifications. I am proud of our pioneering role in this cause.
Now, I'm happy to see that the issue of security is advancing in the country. We have been in constant contact with the Fire Department and I believe that, just as in the United States, which has clear safety rules, Brazil will move forward on the same path.
The letter sent by the Fire Department to the market is a very welcome sign of this evolution. I hope the trend continues towards mandatory safety on all rooftop plants. Brazilian society can only benefit from this.
