Intersolar Summit Speaker Overview

Graduated in Electrical Engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of RS, with specialization in airport and commercial automation from the University of Regensburg, Germany. He worked 15 years at Siemens S.A. working in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Portugal and Germany in the area of airport automation and 16 years CEO of Alubar Energia S.A. being responsible for projects, construction and assembly of transmission lines and substations with voltage up to 500 kV, wind and solar farms. He was founder, Vice President and Counselor for 12 years of ABEEOLICA, actively participating with the MME, EPE and ANEEL to define the rules of the renewable energy auctions in force until today. As a Director and Counselor of transmission and power generation companies, he participated in the development of projects, auctions, creation of SPE's, preparation of business plans, obtaining financing and operation of projects. He is currently Director of Sindienergia-RS, member of the Board of Directors of ABSOLAR and partner of ACBS Aguilar Engenharia, which operates in the area of consulting in electrical engineering, airport automation and renewable energies. He is also currently a partner and Commercial Director of Integra Energia, a company that operates in the development of wind and solar projects.

Mechanical Engineer (Universidad de Málaga, Spain). Master in Renewable Energies (Universidad de Zaragoza). 20 years of experience in Projecting, Designing and Construction of Solar PV (grid-tie and off-grid) and Thermal systems in different countries: Spain, Italy, Mozambique and Brazil. Official Certifier for the Agencia Valenciana de la Energia (AVEN) in efficiency buildings and installations. Measurment and Verfication Certifier (CMVP) with Efficiency Valuation Organization (EVO). Auxiliar teacher in Sizing of PV systems in Specialist Course in Renewable Energies (2009-2010, Universidad de Málaga). From 2008 to 2011 was member of NGO Engineering Without Borders participating in development projects in Mozambique related with access to water and electrification of rural areas. Nowadays, Technical Manager of Effitech Spain S.L. (Spain, since 2006) and Effitech Engenharia Ltda. (Brazil, since 2012), both companies offer Engineering and Consulting services in Renewable and Efficient Energy systems with more than 2 GW of experience accumulated.

Graziella Albuquerque has a degree in Environmental Management with an extension in Community-Based Environmental Education and Political Ecology in Latin America from UNIRIO. She has been trained in International Negotiations by Oxford University and the Global Youth Coalition. She is a member of YOUNGO UNFCCC and has already served as Brazil's official UN delegate at the Youth Climate Conference (COY17) and as a Youth Press Agency writer at COP27, both events held in Egypt. She currently holds the position of Institutional and Government Relations Coordinator at Revolusolar, where she contributes to advancing solar energy initiatives in low-income communities.

Eduardo Avila is an economist from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, specializing in energy and finance, and has worked in the financial market. While a student at UFRJ, he was president of the students' league of Finance and Investments and co-founder of the Energy and Technology League. A volunteer since 2018, he is now the executive director of Revolusolar, an NGO created in 2015 with the aim of promoting the sustainable development of low-income communities through solar energy. Eduardo is a member of the Board Of Advisors of the BRICS CCI Young Leaders, and was one of the 5 finalists from Latin America and the Caribbean for the United Nations Environment Program (UN) 'Young Champions of the Earth 2020' global award. Other awards include: Global Energy Heroes 2022 (Stanford University), 1st Habitability Prize (MRV and Trip Magazine), Shell Youth Initiative 2020 (Energy, Smart Cities and Fighting COVID-19).

Dr. Puzant Baliozian is the current sector leader of VDMA PV Equipment Group. In this position, Dr. Baliozian conducts techno-economic studies on PV manufacturing capacity across the value chain and advocates for the interests of European PV equipment manufacturers on a global scale. Additionally, the PV Sector Group at VDMA publishes the International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics (ITRPV) annually, providing vital insights into technology projections and trends. Dr. Baliozian completed his undergraduate studies in physics and later worked at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg, focusing on photovoltaic production technologies, where he earned his Ph.D in engineering. During his years in R&D, he gained recognition for developing passivated edge technology for advanced industrial solar cell concepts.

Electrical Engineer graduated from the Federal University of Ceará, urrently leading the Solar Energy SaaS Product at Delfos, monitoring 700 MW+ in centralized and distributed solar generation. Experienced in performance analysis of solar plants through data-driven approaches and implementing predictive monitoring solutions to optimize O&M routines.

Marília Braga has been a researcher at the Fotovoltaica-UFSC research group for 10 years, where she works with Prof. Dr. Ricardo Rüther with data analysis and design of photovoltaic and energy storage systems for grid-connected and off-grid applications. Marília has experience in all stages of the development of photovoltaic systems, from sizing, simulation and design, to performance analysis, having participated in commissioning and fault detection activities of more than 300 MWp of utility-scale PV plants. Additionally, in the Fotovoltaica-UFSC group, Marília helps coordinate the team and participates in research projects in the areas of battery energy storage, electric vehicles, and the production of green hydrogen. Marília is also the former treasurer and current vice-president of ABENS, the Brazilian Solar Energy Society

Ángel Cancino is a Market Analyst at S&P Global, part of the Clean Energy Technology team. He has experience in energy resource assessment and solar photovoltaic project analysis. His current research focuses on the solar photovoltaic market in Latin America including the identification of projects, regulatory framework, and drivers of renewable growth in the region. He holds a bachelor's degree in Renewable Energy Engineering from the University of Science and Arts of Chiapas and a Master's degree in Sustainable Energy Systems, from the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom.

Lucas Dias Cancio is the Commercial Coordinator for Investment Plants at HCC Energia Solar S/A. With a career dedicated to the solar sector, Lucas has 9 years of experience, having started his career while studying Electrical Engineering at the Federal University of Pampa (Unipampa). After completing his degree, Lucas improved his academic knowledge by obtaining a master's degree from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), where he focused his studies on shared generation methodologies and business models in electric mobility. At HCC Energia Solar, Lucas played a crucial role in the development of the HCC Liberty subscription energy program in Rio Grande do Sul. His experience covers the strategic implementation and structuring of business models in shared generation, especially in the consortium modality. His career is marked by a combination of technical expertise and strategic vision, contributing significantly to the advancement of the solar energy sector.

Professor in the Solar Energy courses at Unicamp, having taught over 5,000 students. Holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Unicamp, and PhD candidate. Researcher at LESF-MV in various topics of Photovoltaic Solar Energy, aiming to contribute to the evolution of the national sector. Influencer on Instagram, known as ProfJL. Also a professor in the Storage Course at Canal Solar. Recognized as an influential figure in the academic field, highly read in the area, with over 50 scientific publications and 250 reviews in leading journals in the solar energy sector. Additionally, works as a consultant in Photovoltaic Projects, with vast experience in quality testing of photovoltaic solar energy equipment, particularly inverters.

Nelson S. Falcão Is responsible for the sales of Nextracker's advanced solar trackers in Brazil since 2105, and was Sr. Director, Business Development for the Energy segment at Flex from 2013 to 2023, where he has been supporting the development of the solar industry. Nelson is Vice-President, Supply Chain, and member of the board of ABSOLAR (Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Energy Association). He received his BSEE degree from the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, Brazil in 1980, and got a specialization in Reactive Power Compensation in Sweden in 1983. He worked in various projects for the Brazilian transmission and distribution system at ABB, Cegelec Alstom and Cooper Power Systems, being appointed in 2007 General Manager of the Substation Automation business based in Quebec, Canada.

Dr. Stephen Filippone is the CTO and partner at SunR Reciclagem Fotovoltaica, a solar panel recycling company based in São Paulo Brazil. He is responsible for technological improvements in recycling processes that lower costs and improve the separation and purity of materials. He has a deep expertise in solar module technology combined with knowledge in the practical aspects of the Brazilian logistic, regulatory and commercial landscape.

Cíntia Flesch, a native of Vale do Sol/RS, holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering with a focus on Energy Self-Production from the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - UFSM, a postgraduate degree in Energy Law from PUC/Minas, and a degree in Energy Engineering from the Universidade Federal do Pampa - UNIPAMPA - campus Bagé/RS. She has been working with Autoproduction modeling on load, with the migration of consumer units with GD to the Autoproduction of Energy modality, since 2021. She currently works in the regulatory sector, as a Regulatory and Institutional Affairs Analyst, at the Cobra Brasil Group, supporting the Energy Self-Production.

Ronaldo Koloszuk is President of ABSOLAR (Brazilian Solar Photovoltaic Energy Association), 2nd Secretary Director of FIESP (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo) and Commercial Director of Solar Group.

Celso L P Mendes - Consultant, he was general manager of Klöckner-Moeller for South America and general manager of Siemens in the area of Industrial Electrical Energy Systems. For more than 30 years, he has worked in Brazil and Germany on equipment and installations for the basic and manufacturing industries. A member of the NBR 5410 EC since 1990, he has published several works on the standard. He is a Life Senior Member of the IEEE, a senior member of the VDE, and a member of the IAFSS - International Association for Fire Safety Science, London. He is a consultant on Modern Electricity and PhotoVolt, and senior advisor to the Intersolar South America congress.

Leandro Michels is an associate professor at the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), where he works as a researcher in the areas of power electronics and PV systems. Throughout its trajectory, it actively contributed to consolidate the dissemination of photovoltaic energy in Brazil, providing technical basis related to inverter technology and connection to the DG grid for various regulatory agents (INMETRO, ANEEL, ONS), for sector associations and for the industry. He also collaborates with the standardization of PV systems being coordinator of the Brazilian national board of the Technical Committee on Photovoltaic Systems of the IEC, and as reporter of the CEE253 commission that develops national standards for connection to the PV systems grid (NBR 16149/62150/62116). Prof. Dr. Leandro Michels has a recognized academic career in CNPq's DT1B productivity. He is also director of the UFSM Intelligent Networks Institute, of the Embrapii Unit for Distributed Energy Resources, and of the INRI / UFSM test laboratory, accredited by INMETRO for testing photovoltaic inverters.

Federal Attorney at the Federal Attorney General's Office since 2012. Lawyer for Petrobras between 2010 and 2012. Graduated in Law from the Fluminense Federal University (UFF) and holds a Master's Degree in Constitutional Institute of Public Law (IDP). Took office as Director of ANEEL on 14/08/2022.

Career built in the conformity assessment and management segment, with 25 years of experience in regulations and standards, including certification operations, working for companies such as Fundação Carlos Alberto Vanzolini and Instituto Falcão Bauer da Qualidade, in addition to 8 years as technical manager of the Association Brazilian Conformity Assessment - ABRAC. At ABSOLAR, he coordinates the operationalization actions of the ABSOLAR Voluntary Quality Certification Program and support for CEE 253, from ABNT and its working groups.

CEO and Founder of CELA, with 21 years of experience in the renewable energy sector, including bioenergy, wind energy, solar PV and green hydrogen. Camila currently also serves as Investment and Green Hydrogen Vice-President of the Board of Directors of ABSOLAR (the Brazilian Solar PV Association), Non-Executive Director of the Board of Administration of Brazilian Rare Earths, member of the Advisory Board of the Federation of Industry of São Paulo (COINFRA - FIESP) and is a Finance Expert at the Clean Energy Finance Solutions Center (NREL - USA). Prior to founding CELA, she was Country Manager and Head of Latin America at Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), where she advised clients with research and analysis of renewable energy sectors and markets, and trends in the region. She has also worked in the past at PricewaterhouseCoopers, ERB - Energias Renováveis do Brasil and Infinity Bio-Energy. Camila holds a Master's and Bachelor's degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Bárbara Rubim currently heads Bright Strategies, a consulting firm advising renewable energy businesses on their legal and regulatory structure. In that capacity, she has helped develop more than 230 MW in energy projects in the last three years alone, and more than 2,200 people have completed her in-company training or her Masterclass on Regulation and Business Models in Distributed Generation. In her career in the energy sector, she has acted in public administration as a consultant to the Brazilian Congress, and has worked in the third sector as a coordinator of Greenpeace's Renewable Energy campaign in Brazil, and in the private sector. In addition, she also serves as the current Vice-President of the Managing Board of ABSOLAR (Brazilian Solar Photovoltaic Energy Association) and is the Director of Energy at FIESP's Infrastructure Department. Bárbara is a lawyer with an MBA in Finance and Business Strategies from the Federal University of Uberlândia. She specializes in the regulation of the electricity sector.

Rodrigo Lopes Sauaia is co-founder and CEO of ABSOLAR (Brazilian Solar Photovoltaic Energy Association), the national association representing Brazilian solar PV companies and professionals. He is co-founder and a governing board member of the GSC (Global Solar Council), a non-profit body representing regional and national solar associations on international issues. Rodrigo holds a PhD in Materials Engineering and Technology from PUC-RS (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul), a Master's degree in Renewable Energies from Loughborough University (UK), a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from USP (São Paulo University), and has collaborated with the Fraunhofer Institut für Solare Energiesysteme (Germany) and with ETH Zürich (Switzerland).

Harry Schmelzer Neto is Director of Solar & Building at WEG. Graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, with an MBA in Financial Management from FGV. He is a board member of the Brazilian Association of Solar Energy and started the solar energy business at WEG in 2012, when this energy source was just beginning in Brazil. Today, the solar energy division accounts for more than 10% of the revenue of one of the largest companies in the country. With 12 years of experience in solar energy, he is also the director of the Building division, which covers the construction sector at WEG. This area has total synergy with smart homes, including Wi-Fi outlets, home automation, and security cameras, all connected.

Éverton Sebastiany de Araújo is an outstanding lawyer specializing in the solar energy sector, currently holding the position of Legal Director at Ergo Energia Inteligente. With a solid education from the University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS) and postgraduate degrees in Business Law and Civil Law from Uniritter, he combines a solid academic base with a focused and experienced professional practice. Over the course of more than five years working specifically in the solar energy market, he has established himself as a leading legal advisor for investments in the sector. His in-depth technical and practical knowledge enables him to create structured and secure legal solutions for companies, with an emphasis on structuring and modeling shared generation vehicles. In addition, his expertise covers the drafting of various contracts, always with a view to optimizing and ensuring the legal security of operations in the solar energy sector.

Electrical engineer graduated from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, with a specialization in economics and business (MBA) from the Federal University of São Carlos and a master's degree in energy from the Institute of Energy and Environment at the University of São Paulo. He is a specialist in surge protection at Embrastec and an electrical engineer at Lambda Consultoria Ltda. He has been working in the field of surge protection for over 20 years, specifying Surge Protection Devices (SPDs), drawing up technical standards and writing articles and books on the subject.

CEO of GREENER, a Research and Investment Strategies company focused on Energy Transition. Since 2007, has been involved in structuring more competitive and sustainable businesses with a focus on the Storage, Distributed and Centralized Solar Energy chain. Member of the Board of Directors of ABSOLAR, Marcio is engineer from the Polytechnic School of USP - University of São Paulo - and an MBA from INSPER and has served as a professor in different postgraduate programs in topics related to energy and sustainability.

Emerson Viana Oliveira has a Master's degree in Systems and Process Engineering and Management, an MBA in Competitive Management and a degree in Civil Engineering. Solar Project Manager at Comerc Energia, responsible for the construction of the UFV Hélio Valgas Solar Complex, the 5th largest photovoltaic plant in Brazil and the 3rd largest in Minas Gerais. He has 29 years' experience in managing large-scale infrastructures in Brazil, Peru, Portugal and Africa. He teaches postgraduate courses at PUC and IETEC MG, specializing in Planning, Budget and Cost Engineering.

Dr. Florian Wessendorf is Managing Director of Solar Promotion GmbH and Solar Promotion International GmbH. He is responsible for the global conference program and exhibitions in North America, South America and India. He has deep expertise in the solar industry, and formerly served as Managing Director of Photovoltaic Equipment at VDMA, where he was responsible for strategic development, market research and technology scouting, advocacy and policy advice, events, PR and marketing.