Panel SA: War in Ukraine could make solar panels more expensive, says industry

The war in Ukraine could interrupt the expected downward price trend in the solar energy market, which has surged across industries and households in the pandemic.

According to Rodrigo Sauaia, president of Absolar (an industry association), the exchange rate and the increase in logistics and commodities costs, which come mainly from Asia, can make equipment more expensive.

“War increases the perception of risk and makes companies more conservative as well,” he says.

Sauaia dismisses the threat of missing solar panels, at least for the next few months. “With the economic and environmental strategic decision of several governments, counting on the increase in demand, photovoltaic suppliers prepared themselves. So, we have a safety cushion”, says Sauaia.

Anderson Medeiros, CEO of the company Tradenergy, says he sees a risk in supplying from China. “The basic elements for the solar panel come from there. The option would be to buy from Germany, with a cost 300% higher.”

Medeiros fears that the war will bring to the sector a scenario similar to that faced at the beginning of the pandemic, with a shortage of glass and silicon from China.

Joana Cunha with Andressa Motter and Ana Paula Branco