Central America foresees up to 25% growth in solar energy by 2025

Panama, Costa Rica and El Salvador are entities in which a dynamism is awakening in this sector due to the high prices of other energy sources.

The solar industry in Latin America could register a growth of between 10 and 15% on average per country during 2025, similar to this year, according to Sergio Rodríguez, service manager of Solis, one of the largest manufacturers of photovoltaic inverters in the world.

The region’s list of solar energy production is headed by countries such as Brazil, with 45 gigawatts (GW); Mexico, with 3.3 GW; Chile, with 3 GW; and Colombia, with 1.9 GW.

In addition, according to Rodríguez, Panama, Costa Rica and El Salvador are entities in which a dynamism is awakening in this sector due to the high prices of other energy sources.

“Given the high prices in the electricity markets, many consumers see self-consumption as the ideal way to save on their electricity bills,” he added.

Given the adoption of this renewable means, he said, a growth similar to that of 2024 is expected for next year in Latin America and, in the case of Central America and the Caribbean, it could be up to 25% due to the contribution of countries such as Guatemala, Honduras, Panama or the Dominican Republic.

On this path of energy transition, companies like Solis are recording their own results: in the first half of 2024, the company shipped 13.3 GW of solar inverters globally, 5 % more than in the same period of the previous year.

MARKET GROWTH

In the case of Mexico, the company has delivered 1.5 GW of inverters for distributed generation, representing almost 50 % of the Mexican market, which currently totals 3.3 GW.

These kinds of results have consolidated the brand’s position as the third largest solar inverter manufacturer worldwide, according to a report published by the British consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.

For Rodríguez, it is essential that companies such as Solis continue to maximize energy efficiency with projects of different scales in Latin America and he pointed out that, for this reason, the portfolio of products for the residential and commercial market is being expanded.

Regarding this expansion work, he pointed out that the manufacturer recently reached a historic milestone by exceeding 100 GW in accumulated shipments globally, a figure that exceeds the solar energy production of Brazil and Mexico combined, countries that lead the solar sector in the Latin American region.

At the international level, organizations such as the United Nations have recognized that “photovoltaic energy systems have great potential as a low-carbon supply technology” and should therefore be one of the solutions for reducing the costs of high energy prices and preserving the environment.

Source: Revista E&N