"We are very proud to say that GRUPO INTELLI participates in projects in the solar energy market that help Brazil to grow, generate income, jobs, and improve our energy matrix. We are thrilled by the country's entry into the list of the top ten countries that installed the most solar energy systems in the world." The statement by Tiago Mundim, electrical engineer at GRUPO INTELLI and member of the Grounding Committee (COBEI Brazil), echoes a positive point of the current national scenario: the solid growth in solar energy installations in the country, which placed Brazil in 9th position among all global markets in the sector.

"This is a historic milestone for our country, something we should be proud of, especially because it involves a clean energy source," emphasizes Mundim, who granted an interview to the communication team of GRUPO INTELLI. In it, the respected professional in the Brazilian electrical market foresees even greater development of solar energy installations over the next three years, highlights the normalization of the market after a period of scarcity of some products and raw materials that could have a strong impact on project delivery times, and emphasizes GRUPO INTELLI's effective role in developing technological solutions to meet the high demand in solar parks.

"GRUPO INTELLI has made and continues to make investments in manufacturing capacity. Today, we can say that we possess, in monetary value, practically 25% of all materials used in a solar park: grounding cables, grounding connectors, terminals for equipotentialization/grounding, terminals for electrical connections, power cables, stay cables, and equipotentialization, among other products," he points out.

Read the full interview below:

What does Brazil's entry into the list of the top ten countries that installed the most solar energy systems in the world in 2020 represent for GRUPO INTELLI and for the national electrical market, despite the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sector? And how do you view this achievement? (Note: the country recorded 3.15 gigawatts in new solar generation projects last year, placing ninth in the global ranking, led by China, the United States, Vietnam, Japan, and Germany).

TIAGO MUNDIM: Brazil's entry into the list of the top ten countries that installed solar energy systems in the world is a historic milestone for our country, something we should be proud of, especially because it involves a clean energy source. We know that the demand for energy is growing every day, and even with the pandemic, projects continued and continue to happen. We can say that one of the main impacts of COVID-19 on projects was, and continues to be, the rise in prices of raw materials, such as copper, steel, electronic components, aluminum, among others, as this directly affects the project cost and the cost of energy for the consumer due to the correction of energy values agreed upon in energy auctions and in the free market. We also noticed that construction projects had an impact on start and completion times because control measures had to be taken to ensure that everyone works safely.

What are the future prospects for the national solar energy market? Is the market prepared for rapid sector development?

TM: The market has good prospects for national solar energy projects, whether they come from distributed generation, the famous rooftop generations with power in the range of hundreds of kilowatts peak, or from medium and large-scale parks that have generation power in the range of hundreds of kilowatts peak. As mentioned earlier, we have a growing demand for energy, and with interest rates at current levels, people have begun to realize that generating energy credits using panels on their own roofs can be a very profitable investment, with a return on investment in a short period of time. A few months ago, we would have said that the market was not ready for rapid development of the sector due to the scarcity of some products and raw materials that could have a strong impact on project delivery times, but we already see that the market is not far from normalization in this regard.

Do you believe that gigawatt consumption will experience a new increase in 2021 and will be even higher compared to 2020? According to Absolar, solar energy generation capacity is expected to grow by 70% in 2021. Do you believe in this scenario?

TM: When we look around, we realize that people are increasingly using products that use electricity, such as electric bicycles, electric motorcycles, electric scooters, and we have already seen some hybrid cars and charging points in various public locations. With that said, we do believe in an increase in energy consumption on a strong upward trend. For 2021, we are already participating in several projects totaling something close to gigawatts of installed power. For 2022 and 2023, we can mention the Futura solar park, which will have a total installed power of 1.15GW when completed. We are very proud to say that we are participating in all these projects that help the country to grow, generate income, jobs, and improve our energy matrix.

Is GRUPO INTELLI prepared to meet the demands of the solar energy market amid the scenario of expansion of new solar generation projects? And how has the GROUP been operating in this market?

TM: GRUPO INTELLI has made and continues to make investments in manufacturing capacity. Today, we can say that we possess, in monetary value, practically 25% of all materials used in a solar park: grounding cables, grounding connectors, terminals for equipotentialization/grounding, terminals for electrical connections, power cables, stay cables, and equipotentialization, among other products.