Last Wednesday, Energía Estratégica held its Virtual Summit, bringing together key stakeholders from the solar PV and energy storage sectors to analyse current conditions and market prospects in Latin America.
Marcos Donzino (JA Solar), Miguel Covarrubias (Jinko Solar), Ángela Castillo (Black & Veatch) and Juan Fernando Ramos (Ventus) discussed the sector’s current situation during the first panel. One of the central topics was the strong impact of module prices on the photovoltaic industry.
Relive the Energía Estratégica Virtual Summit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1RX_HH0yMU&t=1318s
Marcos Donzino, Head of Sales South LATAM at JA Solar, stated that solar panel prices have increased by 40% over the past three to four months, triggering a sharp shift in cost dynamics and project evaluation across the region.
“Three factors came into play. One was the change in taxation. Another was the rise in raw material costs globally across the industry. And the third was the reduction in production capacity among all manufacturers,” the executive explained.
It is worth recalling that China eliminated the value-added tax (VAT) rebate on photovoltaic product exports as of 1 April 2026, a measure that has already come into effect and marks a turning point in global solar pricing.
This tax incentive, which had previously been reduced from 13% to 9% for wafers, cells and modules, was completely withdrawn, further increasing cost pressures.
This situation also triggered a phenomenon that intensified the impact and strained the global supply chain: a surge of advance orders during the first quarter (Q1) of the year.
In this regard, Miguel Covarrubias, Sales Director for Latin America at Jinko Solar, noted:
“Although the tax change officially started on 1 April, it began affecting us as early as January. It gave both manufacturers and clients time for what I would call a Q1 rush. It was quite chaotic, with everyone trying to place orders before the regulatory changes took effect.”
The executive added that this context had a direct impact on costs, albeit with mixed effects:
“Clearly, this additional 9% on modules has impacted prices. There is an effect on CAPEX (capital expenditure), but there is also a positive impact in terms of energy yield (GWh generated),” he said, highlighting efficiency improvements as part of the sector’s response.
For his part, Donzino warned that the impact was not only technical but also financial:
“Previously, we saw variations of 1%, 2% or 5%, which did affect CAPEX. But a 40% increase in three months was something no one expected. All projects had to be reassessed without hesitation.”
“Purchasing accelerated towards March, saturating manufacturing capacity across all producers ahead of April. A production bottleneck emerged, with everyone competing for production lines. Prices rose and everyone wanted to buy as quickly as possible out of fear they would continue to increase. Now the focus is on how the market stabilises for the rest of the year,” the JA Solar executive added.
From CAPEX to value: a structural shift in the solar market
Beyond the immediate cost impact, the panel made it clear that this scenario has accelerated a shift in how solar projects are analysed in the region.
The discussion is no longer limited to CAPEX, but increasingly focused on the ability of assets to sustain long-term performance and value.
“The question is no longer just how much it costs to build a photovoltaic project, but how capable that project is of sustaining its economic performance under real operating conditions,” said Ángela Castillo, Business Development Director at Black & Veatch.
She emphasised the need to consider variables such as transmission constraints, curtailment and compliance with power purchase agreements (PPAs).
Castillo further explained that this shift involves incorporating factors that were not previously decisive in early development stages, such as hourly generation profiles, dispatch capability and the integration of battery energy storage systems (BESS) or hybrid solutions.
“The most successful solar project is not the one built at the lowest cost, but the one that can sustain its value in operation throughout the lifetime of the PPA,” she warned.
This change in approach also responds to new market requirements, particularly in PPAs, which now demand greater predictability and alignment with specific hourly delivery profiles. In this context, more integrated solutions and earlier-stage engineering are gaining prominence.
From an execution perspective, Juan Fernando Ramos, Commercial Manager at Ventus, explained that the market shows differentiated dynamics depending on the country, with public tenders coexisting alongside private PPAs.
One concrete opportunity lies in Guatemala, where “there is an upcoming opportunity to build 1,500 MW that already have PPAs”, as well as in markets such as Colombia, where both models complement each other.
Additionally, Ramos detailed the company’s regional positioning, with a strong presence in Uruguay—its home market—and growth in Colombia, where it has nearly 1 GW under construction.
The company is also expanding into Central America and the Caribbean, with activity in Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, as well as projects in Ecuador and Peru, reflecting a diversified regional strategy aligned with each market’s development cycle.
What role does storage play?
“PPA requirements today no longer ask only for energy during solar hours, but also outside those periods,” revealed Covarrubias of Jinko Solar, highlighting the growing role of energy storage.
He pointed to clear scenarios in Argentina, as well as more incipient developments in Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, underscoring the rapid regional expansion of BESS solutions as a complement to the solar business.
For his part, Donzino noted that JA Solar is already identifying concrete opportunities for energy storage integration in the region, both in utility-scale projects and in the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment, particularly in markets such as Argentina and Brazil, where demand for these solutions is beginning to grow.
Towards the close of the panel, speakers agreed that the market is leaving behind several long-standing assumptions that have guided the industry for years but are no longer valid.
These include expectations of continuously declining module prices, the idea that CAPEX dominates decision-making, and the concept of solar projects without the need for battery energy storage systems (BESS).
