{"id":64864,"date":"2026-05-07T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latamobility.com\/?p=64864"},"modified":"2026-05-08T10:18:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T15:18:00","slug":"canal-solar-bets-on-bes-storage-as-a-solution-for-vehicle-charging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latamobility.com\/en\/canal-solar-bets-on-bes-storage-as-a-solution-for-vehicle-charging\/","title":{"rendered":"Canal Solar Bets on BESS Storage as a Solution for Vehicle Charging"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As part of Latam Mobility & Net Zero Brasil 2026<\/strong>, the CEO of Canal Solar<\/strong>, Bernardo Marang\u00f3n<\/strong>, gave a keynote titled “When solar energy meets asphalt.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his presentation, the Brazilian electricity sector expert drew a parallel between the explosive growth of photovoltaic solar energy in Brazil and the equally disruptive potential of electromobility<\/strong>. His message was direct: the electricity sector and mobility share the same future, and that future is now.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernardo Marang\u00f3n<\/strong>, known in the industry for his work leading Canal Solar<\/strong> and as the driving force behind Canal VE<\/strong> (an initiative that links the electricity sector with electromobility), began by highlighting a fact: Brazil’s electricity grid is mostly renewable.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That’s something we should be proud of,”<\/strong> he said. He added that while hydropower was historically the main source, solar energy has quickly become the country’s second most important source.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may also be interested in | “Papo de Garagem” proposes at Latam Mobility Brasil 2026 a pact for competitiveness that transcends assemblers and technologies<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Solar Energy Tsunami<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the most striking moments of the presentation came when Bernardo Marang\u00f3n<\/strong> put the growth of the solar sector in Brazil into perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In 2018, I inaugurated a half-megawatt power plant in S\u00e3o Paulo, and that increased the state’s installed capacity by 30%. In nine years, we went from just over 30 megawatts to 55 gigawatts. That was a wave, a tsunami of opportunities,”<\/strong> he emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Canal Solar<\/strong> executive explained that this dizzying growth opened up a world of possibilities for integrators, equipment distributors, and the entire value chain. However, he warned that due to changes in compensation rules, the solar sector has entered a plateau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It continues to grow, but it’s no longer the exponential growth market it once was,”<\/strong> he noted. And that’s where he introduced his main thesis: electromobility is today’s great opportunity sector, comparable to solar in 2018.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I remember in 2018 when I started in solar, and I hope that within nine years the electromobility curve will be a tiny dot at the end of an exponential curve. This sector is going to see very strong growth,”<\/strong> he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Canal<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Need to Build Something that Lasts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bernardo Marang\u00f3n<\/strong> shared a lesson learned from the solar industry: “To succeed in anything you want to do, the ideal is to be in a high-growth sector. I often say these are idiot-proof businesses: anyone who enters a rapidly growing market is going to make money.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he warned that most of those who did business in the solar sector did not build something that would last. “You’ll have capital, you’ll have people interested in getting in, but you need to have the ability to build something that endures,”<\/strong> he reflected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, the CEO of Canal Solar<\/strong> identified the main obstacle to mass adoption of electric vehicles: charging infrastructure<\/strong>. “How will these cars be charged, whether at home or on the street, through charging stations?”<\/strong> he asked, noting that distribution networks have limited capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He gave the example of what was seen at Latam Mobility Brasil 2026<\/strong> regarding bus depots: “The distributor’s capacity to charge the buses is limited. Either you expand the network, which is very hard in cities like S\u00e3o Paulo, where no more power is available, or you look for another solution.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That solution, according to Marang\u00f3n, is BESS <\/strong>(Battery Energy Storage System). “As long as there’s a growth limit for the grids, BESS appears as a possibility to meet the demand that charging will require, whether in bus depots or condominiums,”<\/strong> he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he made a prediction: “All parking spaces will have a charger.”<\/strong> That will create a demand problem in condominiums, and the distributor won’t be able to expand the network fast enough. “That’s why the solution lies in BESS,”<\/strong> he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Solar Ecosystem Migrates toward Electromobility<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bernardo Marang\u00f3n<\/strong> highlighted a phenomenon that is already happening: the solar energy ecosystem is embracing electromobility. “I see suppliers and integrators who worked with solar panels and inverters, and today they install or sell charging stations,”<\/strong> he reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he noted that this migration will help accelerate growth, because the solar sector has already built a structure of importers, local manufacturers, and distribution channels. “The structure is already in place. As a result, we’re going to grow at a much faster pace,”<\/strong> he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most innovative points of his presentation was the concept of V2G (Vehicle to Grid)<\/strong> or V2L <\/strong>(Vehicle to Load). Marang\u00f3n compared the battery of an electric car\u2014around 35 kWh in a small vehicle\u2014with the needs of a home, which with 5 kWh can run for several hours during a power outage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A small car has seven times the need of my house. I could go one or two days without power, and if the battery runs out, I can go to a charging station and come back with it,”<\/strong> he explained. For him, that’s a business with huge potential<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple Opportunities<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During his intervention at Latam Mobility Brasil 2026<\/strong>, Bernardo Marang\u00f3n<\/strong> broke down the four major areas of opportunity he sees:<\/p>\n\n\n\n