Brazil´s growth to one of the biggest solar markets in the world has developed over the past couple of years – and has put it on number 7 of the global top solar markets 2020-2021 with 5,5 GW of installed Solar PV capacity, making it the biggest market for Solar PV in Latin America. In Brazil, Solar PV has become increasingly competitive to the prevailing traditional source for electricity generation, hydro power, due to water shortages in Brazil´s rivers. Solar radiation guarantees an unlimited potential for Solar PV development, but limitations due to insecure investment conditions, high taxes and protective market restrictions persist. Today, we will explore Brazil´s further way to become and maintain a global player on the solar market. We talk about this with Rodrigo Sauaia, co-founder and CEO of the Brazilian solar energy association ABSOLAR.
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Rodrigo Sauaia is Co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) at the Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Energy Association (ABSOLAR), the national association representing companies and professionals from all segments of the solar PV value chain with operations in Brazil. Co-founder and member of the board of directors at the Global Solar Council (GSC), the global entity unifying and representing the solar power sector at the international level. His academic background includes a Ph.D. with honours in Engineering and Materials Technology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), with an international collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institut für Solare Energiesysteme (Fraunhofer ISE, Germany), a M.Sc. with honours in Renewable Energy with PV Specialisation from the EUREC Master Program, with an international collaboration with the ETH Zürich (Switzerland), and a B.Sc. with honours in Chemistry from the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil). In 2015, he was elected by Recharge News Thought Leaders Club as one of the most influential professionals in the global scenario of renewable energy and key promoter of solar power in Brazil.
