Off-grid Systems and Energy Storage

Diretor Executivo de Engenharia da UCB Power. Engenheiro Eletricista pela UFU, Mestrado em Dinâmica de Sistemas Elétricos e Doutorando pelo IME. Sólida experiência em infraestrutura do sistema elétrico de potência elétrica e sistemas de armazenamento de energia, atuando como líder dos times de desenvolvimento, implantação e gestão de projetos de alta complexidade técnica. Especialista em planejamento e execução de usinas renováveis, subestações, sistemas C&I e soluções em baterias (BESS), contribuindo ativamente para o avanço do setor no Brasil.

Leandro Michels is an Associate Professor at the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), where he conducts research at the Institute of Energy and Mobility (IEM) and the Power Electronics and Control Group (GEPOC) in the areas of photovoltaic (PV) systems and power electronics. Throughout his career, he has actively contributed to the advancement of photovoltaic energy in Brazil by providing technical expertise on inverter technology and distributed generation (DG) grid connection to regulatory agencies, industry associations, and the productive sector. He is also involved in standardization efforts, serving as the coordinator of the Brazilian committee for the IEC Technical Committee on PV Systems and as a rapporteur for the ABNT CEE 253 committee, which develops Brazilian standards for grid connection of PV systems. He coordinates the DER Lab, the distributed energy resources laboratory at IEM/UFSM, which is accredited by INMETRO for testing photovoltaic inverters.

Engenheiro, mestre em Engenharia e MBA em Gestão de Pessoas, atua há mais de 12 anos no setor de energia. Lidera a área de engenharia de geração solar distribuída e de soluções voltadas ao cliente final na EDP, empresa multinacional portuguesa.

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.