“SMA expects a strong growth in solar installations in Brazil in the coming years. With our new subsidiary in Itopeva/Sao Paulo we will support our domestic and international customers to benefit from the market development. SMA’s industry-leading solutions for all applications and system sizes will help catapult Brazil into a top solar market,” explained SMA Chief Executive Officer Pierre-Pascal Urbon.

The company sees Brazil as an attractive PV market because it offers federal energy contract auctions, net metering and tax exemptions on the consumed credits generated by net metering (in most states). Moreover, droughts in recent years have highlighted challenges with the country’s dependence on hydroelectric power, with millions of consumers affected by power outages and electricity rationing. Because of these factors, solar power is an attractive option that is expected to stimulate economic development and stabilize electricity prices.

“While SMA Brazil will focus on all PV market segments, the most relevant one currently—in terms of size and potential—is utility-scale. It continues to attract international developers, which in turn helps develop the PV supply chain while spurring the growth of distributed generation in Brazil,” said Daniel Rosende, managing director of SMA South America. “We are already supplying SMA solutions for every PV market segment in Brazil and participating in major utility-scale projects locally.”