EN 
PT_BR 
O Solar Channel held yesterday (14) a webinar Special about sales in the solar energy sector with executives from four photovoltaic equipment distributors in Brazil and an end consumer service company.
The broadcast was attended by Gustavo Tegon, CMSO of Solar Sphere; Juliano Ohta, CEO of Aldo Solar; Leandro Martins, president of Ecori; Neto Tosado, founder of Projesol; and Roberto Caurim, CEO of Bluesun.
For a while more than two hours, a full panorama about how sales are in the sector during the first quarter of 2023 and what are the perspectives for the segment from now on.
All professionals said that first two months of the year were below what they could due to a series of factors, ranging from new regulations to the change of government and the breach that occurred in Americanas stores.
You participants, however, highlighted that – as the sector comes to better assimilate these issues – the results are already returning to previous levels, with good sales being made.
Gustavo Tegon assessed that the solar energy market was already expecting a slower start to the year than compared to previous years, which ended up, according to him, being configured because of Law 14,300 and the natural legal instability that occurs whenever there is an exchange of government.
However, he highlighted that the month of March “is already at the same level of budgets as we had in November, which was a spectacular month”, he pointed out.
Still according to Tegon, two other factors also help to explain the growth in sales in the final stretch of the first quarter: the increase in new budgets made by integrators and the reduction in the price of photovoltaic equipment in China.
Leandro Martins, in turn, classified the first quarter of 2023 as positive for the solar energy sector given the negative perspectives that had been considered since the end of last year.
“The months of January and February, obviously carrying some of the anticipated demand that we had at the end of the year, due to the change in the rules of Law 14,300, can be considered good”, he said.
According to the executive, Ecori's sales volume in January this year was better than in the same period in 2022, due to the great movement that occurred in the sector in the first week of the month.
At the time, Brazilian consumers who wanted to install photovoltaic systems to remain within the rules prior to Law 14,300 had until January 6th to request an access opinion for their projects from the distributors.
“February was a month that did not show growth compared to the same period last year in sales, but it also did not show a retraction. I see this as something positive”, he commented.
Already Neto Tosato pointed out that the solar energy market in the first two months of the year presented poor results for integrating companies. However, he stated that March started much better for companies in this segment, with customers returning to budgets.
“We still have some problems with professionals complaining about credit approval, because financial institutions are having difficulty releasing resources due to the increased risk of default. We are still going through some turbulent days, but we are already returning to normality”, he commented.
Just like Tosato, Roberto Caurim, also said that sales figures for the solar sector, as a whole, were below expectations, with companies experiencing difficulties in achieving the targets set for the period.
“February was one of the worst months we've ever had in Bluesun's history, but the good news is that we're halfway through March and we've already met our goals for the month. This, for us, was a surprise, because I imagined that this would only happen after April”, he commented.
Furthermore, the CEO of Bluesun pointed out that other factors external to Law 14,300 also hindered the segment at the beginning of the year, such as the high interest rate (which made project financing unfeasible) and the breach that occurred at Lojas Americanas, which ended up removing part of the “appetite” of banks in the market immediately after the episode.
Caurim, however, made a point of reassuring the market by stating that last year an unnecessary “terrorism” was created in relation to Law 14,300 and that the sector will achieve great results in 2023.
“Many people brought forward their purchases without even wanting to buy photovoltaic systems in November and December 2022. This ended up impacting the sector’s results in the first months of this year”, he commented.
Finally, Julian Ohta drew attention to the fact that the economy as a whole started 2023 in a scenario of uncertainty and that this is not something restricted only to the solar energy sector. “When the economy goes through a period of uncertainty, there is a drop in demand in general”, he pointed out.
“We must have a bad year for the economy. The interest rate is high, which inhibits investment and consumption. Furthermore, we have uncertainty about policies and reforms that may come and this brings great caution”, he concluded.
Watch the full webinar:
