Huawei, a Chinese information and communications technology company, is conducting a research and development project with the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), located in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. The project will be coordinated by Leandro Michels, professor in the Electrical Engineering Master Program at UFSM and it focuses on the safety and quality of inverters for photovoltaic systems.

According to the National Fire Fighting Committee, there are currently 600,000 buildings using photovoltaic systems in Brazil, most of which are built without the minimum technical requirements for proper fire prevention and fighting. Therefore, the partnership is dedicated to boosting the generation of clean energy in a safe way in Brazil.

The university was chosen because it has a laboratory accredited by the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (Inmetro), which is a reference in Brazil for carrying out conformity certification tests for photovoltaic inverters.