Brazil to become competitive solar panel maker
- According to medium-term forecasts, Brazil is likely to become a competitive PV panel manufacturer globally and a major player among Latin American countries.
The recent revision of Brazil’s Semiconductor Technological Development Support Program has included solar modules, stimulating manufacturers for increased capacity. Thus, Chinese BYD Co has decided to grow its Campinas-based facility’s capacity twice in 2020.
One more reason to boost solar panel production in Brazil is coronavirus, keeping China from producing solar modules in the current year. Today, the People's Republic of China is the leader of frequency inverter and PV panel export. However, other manufacturers can benefit from PRC’s inability to supply the above products.
As for short-term prospects, the current situation is more likely to influence Brazil negatively. The photovoltaic panels made in China are about 20 percent cheaper than the one produced locally. Aldo Solar predicts that in the second quarter lots of nations are likely to suffer from deficit of solar devices.
Brazil has imported 1,185 megawatt-peak of PV panels by Q3 of the previous year, which has indicated 206 percent year-over-year rise. Mostly, these have been expanded in two states – Parana and Mato Grosso.
As of today, the country has installed 171 thousand solar systems, totaling to 2 gigawatts of capacity. Most of them are located in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais.
Over the year gone by, Brazil has connected 112,826 installations to the grid, which has threefold exceeded the amount commissioned during 2018.
