Integrators are betting on the resumption of the photovoltaic market projected by ABGD

Environmental awareness and the need to reduce electricity costs should positively impact the solar energy sector in the next semester in Brazil. This is what ABGD (Brazilian Association of Distributed Generation) estimates.

“In times of crisis, people can realize more clearly the importance of sustainability in its most different aspects, whether from an economic, environmental or social point of view”, highlights Carlos Evangelista, president of ABGD (Brazilian Association of Distributed Generation) .

The association's prospecting is aligned with the growth of photovoltaic solar sources in the country, which had the highest growth rate in the Brazilian electricity matrix in 2019, reaching an increase of 88%, compared to 7% for wind power and 5% for hydroelectric power.

For Elvis Almeida, director of New Business at MySol, a company located in Sorocaba (SP), there are already signs of recovery, both for residential and commercial consumers.

“We noticed an increase in demand from the residential public, who felt the burden of their energy bills even more. The commercial public, which hit the brakes at first, is now starting to resume projects, as they have also noticed the importance of having lower costs in their businesses. Other people are using credit lines with lower rates and longer grace periods, created to encourage the recovery of the economy”, comments Almeida.

The ease of financing lines is also a factor that should contribute to the recovery. “Offering more financing options is a positive risk that will materialize and be an important inflection point that could result in the sector’s results being those planned before the pandemic. Therefore, what we see in the near future is an increase in business volume. We expect to earn 50% more revenue than in 2019 in corrected values”, says Aldo Cézar Silva, managing partner of Grão Solar Energia, located in Belém (PA).

Projects didn't stop

The integrators' experiences show that the market remained buoyant during the first half of this year, even amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Armando Karin, CTO of ErgoSolar Energias Renováveis, reports that activities at the company, located in Salvador (BA), have not stopped. “We are in a niche market that did not suffer from the pandemic. We were busy working on a project involving around 1.4MW of a distributed generation plant, with a tight schedule, which did not stop with social isolation. As we maintained productivity, there were no delays in measurement and payments occurred as expected.”

According to Geovani Magalhães, CEO of Mega Solar, the integrator company located in Guaxupé (MG) has also delivered projects this semester, which has contributed to business stability.

“Since March we have been cautious, however, as a result of a lot of work and the dynamics of the commercial teams, we managed to release several projects that had been frozen for some time in bank processes, so the scenario has improved for us. These are not new sales, they are blocked projects that had been in banks for some time, however, they came at the right time, providing stability for the company and guarantees of continuing the company's growth plans”.

Magalhães also comments on how the company's digitalization, carried out last year, contributed to the new routine and explains what his expectations are for the future. “We had been digitalized for over a year and that helped a lot. All home office work went very smoothly as it was already common in the company”, he reports.

“The pandemic was like an asteroid that fell and we didn't have the size of it, but we have faith and we are sure that the recovery will be great. Because the world will look at renewables differently. The quarantine has been a time for companies to rethink their strategies and seek a more conscious and competitive market”