Italy extends fiscal incentive for residential PV to storage

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The fiscal incentive for the installation of a residential PV systems linked to sustainable house building and renovations has been extended to small-sized storage systems.

According to a recent document from the Italian Revenue Agency, the personal income tax (Irpef) deduction equal to maximum 50% of expenses incurred, up to a maximum amount of €96,000, can be also applied to the purchase of a storage system, if this is installed simultaneously or after the PV system is deployed. If installed under these conditions, the agency stressed, the storage system is configured as “an element functionally connected to the plant and able to improve its potential.”

The 50% deduction is granted only to residential renewable energy projects that are intended to meet the energy needs of a household. The expense limit of €96,000, however, is unique and applies to both the system and the storage system, the agency also clarified.

The 50% Irpef deduction, which has been one of the main drivers of the Italian residential solar market over the past years, may now also help the residential storage business to gain market shares in Italy, taking advantage of the vast amount of rooftop PV systems installed across the country in the past decade. According to the latest statistics released by Italian renewable energy association, Anie Rinnovabili, on the other hand, residential installations not exceeding 20 kW in size still dominate the Italian solar energy landscape, with around 67.7 MW of newly installed capacity so far this year.

As for the development of the storage business in the country, several attempts were made by Italian central and regional authorities over the past year. In June 2017, Italy’s energy agency Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE) published new technical rules for the integration of storage systems combined with solar and renewable energy power generators. Furthermore, the Department of Environment, Energy and Sustainable Development of Lombardia, Italy’s most industrialized region, has allocated so far around €7 million in incentives for storage projects combined with PV installations with a capacity of up to 20 kW will be entitled to have access to the program. The scheme provides rebates of up to €3,000 that may cover up to 50% of the costs for buying and deploying the storage system.

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