Opening

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.

Markus Vlasits started as a consultant at McKinsey & Company in Germany and has been active in the solar PV industry for 17 years in several executive positions. In 2007-2009, he was Production Manager of crystallization and wafering at Q.Cells SE, Thalheim, Germany, where he reached a vice-presidential role in Sales Operations. Moving to Brazil in 2013, he started as CEO of Yingli Green Energy do Brasil. He teamed up with fellow executives to open Faro Energy, an investment company focusing on PV generation projects for commercial concerns, and was its Sales Director until 2018. In 2019, he was an independent consultant and helped start ABSOLAR's Energy Storage Workgroup. In 2020, founded NewCharge, an engineering company focused on energy storage projects for commercial clients in Brazil. He is also active as acts as a technical consultant and advisor for projects related to energy storage. In August 2023, he was elected president of board of directors of the Brazilian Association for Energy Storage Solutions (ABSAE). Markus also organizes energy storage events and conferences, and recently co-organized an energy storage conference panel for Intersolar South America 2021 in partnership with Solar Promotion.

Joaquim Rolim is Executive Secretary for Industry at the Economic Development Office of the State of Ceará and, as such, works to attract investments for the energy and green hydrogen industries. He heads the Northeast Consortium's Technical Board for Energy, which helps integrate the states in the Brazilian Northeast. Joaquim has extensive experience in renewable energy, energy distribution, and the industry as a whole. He is a member of the working group established by the Government of Ceará to develop a Green Hydrogen Hub. He has coordinated the project of the new Wind and Solar Atlas of Ceará and was a Speaker at the United Nations Climate Change Conferences COP26 and COP27.

Jurandir Picanço Júnior is a Mechanical Engineer and Electrician. A member of the Ceará's Academy of Engineering, he works as energy consultant for FIEC (Ceará's Federation of Industries). He was President of COELCE (Ceará's Energy Company), has headed Ceará's Science and Technology Office, has been a member of CHESF's board, the President of ARCE (Ceará's Regulatory Agency), a lecturer on Electrical Engineering at UFC and the President of CSRenováveis/CE (Ceará's Sectorial Chamber on Renewable Energies). The Sindienergia-CE Award, which honours outstanding individuals in Ceará's energy industry, is called 'The Jurandir Picanço Trophy'. In his 59 years actively working in the energy industry, Jurandir has always had a connection with renewable energies, and was one of the people directly responsible for helping Ceará in its first initiatives to develop projects on wind and solar energy and, more recently, on green hydrogen. A 2022 survey by Grupo Mídia named him one of the '100 Most Influential People in Energy'.

Senior Advisor for the Intersolar South America Conference, Aranda Editora and Aranda Eventos. Executive in the electrical industry for 30+ years, was Managing Director of Klockner Moeller (currently Eaton), of Flender Brasil (currently Siemens), and Siemens General Manager for Industrial Power Switchgear. Former Board Member of the Brazil-Germany Chamber of Industry and Commerce, São Paulo. Life Senior Member of IEEE and Senior Member of VDE - German Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technology.

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).