Just as we had transition from polycrystalline to monocrystalline, we are now moving from mono PERC protocols for TOPCon. That's what he said Philip Santos, LATAM Sales Director at Dah Solar.
“In the beginning there is that barrier of knowledge, but the advantages are immense, especially for residential consumers, where they can use fewer modules”, said the executive, who was present at an event held by Bold Energy this month, in Campinas (SP), with partners.
“For example, today a 550/555 W module goes to 575/580 W with the same size. So, it brings a great advantage to the system. With the price falling, we will soon be able to find an area of equivalence between costs. I believe that next year will be the year of TOPCon”, projected Santos.
According to him, 2023 was a difficult and atypical year for the market. “It was a year of maintaining relationships, maintaining contact with customers. Furthermore, we structured our local team, both in the commercial, marketing and product areas. In fact, we will set up an office in Campinas (SP) at the beginning of 2024”.
For next year, the expert expects the market to improve. “It will react more as the end consumer becomes more secure in their investment. Macroeconomic conditions in the country are relatively good.”
“Our main focus in 2024 will be working on the TOPCon, full-screen modules and the Solar Unit, our big bet that combines all the technologies available at DAH”, emphasized the director.
Full-screen technology and Solar Unit
Leonard Rodrigues, LATAM technical manager at DAH Solar, was also present at the Bold event and commented on the full-screen technology, patented worldwide by DAH, which has several advantages over the standard model.
“The full-screen model has no frame, aiming to maximize performance and energy production, which reduces the accumulation of dirt and improves water drainage from the module. The entire DAH line has this full-screen condition, both for the TOPCon and PERC models”, he explained.
According to Rodrigues, the idea is to further disseminate this technology to the Brazilian market, bringing such benefits to end customers and distributors. “We see technologies migrating from cells, for example, to have a 1,5% gain with silicon doping. Just with this frame change we made, we had a proven gain of 6 to 15%, depending on the location and angle of the installation.”
“The technology is already being disseminated in Brazil, it is having excellent adherence. We believe that TOPCon is here to stay and, together with full-screen, provides even greater system efficiency”, highlighted the expert.
Partnership with Bold Energy
During the meeting, Felipe Santos also discussed the partnership with Bold, which is strategic and viewed favorably. “The company not only looks at the partnership from a commercial point of view, but also from a quality, sustainability and always delivering to the end customer, in addition to product quality, safety”.
“We started with standard modules, now we are bringing full-screen panels to the company. In fact, we have also started to bring TOPCon”, he pointed out.
José Salm, director of Bold, said that the photovoltaic market is going through a challenging year in a very sustainable way, largely due to the relationship of trust and partnership that they are building.
“This partnership relationship comes a lot from these events that we hold to be close to them, and making them understand that Bold is not just a buying and selling relationship, but a company that always wants to seek to have the best partnership relationship. We don’t want to be the biggest company, we want to be the best,” he emphasized.
“We seek to share a little of what Bold is seeing in the market, the long-term opportunities, challenges and how we can all continue to grow. In other words, we seek to build a solid relationship, within the three pillars: competitive price, product quality and long-term reliable relationship”, reinforced the executive.
Currently, Bold has an external commercial structure in some locations, for example, in the Southeast, Central-West, South and now in the Northeast region, with the aim of expanding business.
“We are believing a lot in the last quarter. There is a tendency that the market should heat up again. It won't have the volume it had in recent years, but there are opportunities that will make the sector expand again. In this case, we will have very interesting solutions to be launched in the first quarter of 2024”, he concluded.
