In Spring, the Italian PV market was thrown into turmoil over uncertainty in feed in tariffs and the outcome of talks on the 4th conto energia. With a cap imposed on ground based projects over 200kW many developers have had their heads down over the summer, focussing on getting large ground based projects constructed and connected before the new tariff comes in. As the summer draws to a close however, PV companies around the world are taking stock of the situation in the Italian market.
Having spoken this week to a number of developers and investors who have been major players in the Italian PV sector a number of messages are consistently coming through. The first is that despite the much publicised troubles in the wider Italian economy, the 4th conto energia remains safe, with the government having recently announced that no additional or unexpected cuts will be made.
Additionally, there are no concerns amongst developers and investors that funding of solar projects will be affected by Italys debt situation. Large PV projects continue to be financed on a regular basis and plenty of liquidity remains in the market whilst there have been no signs of investors pulling out. The cap on ground based projects has however raised much larger debate. Many believe that the era of ground based projects in Italy is drawing to a close and that the pace of growth of the PV sector in 2012 will slow.
With this change comes however the rise of a new sector, as attention shifts to the large PV rooftop market. These projects, exempt from the 4th conto energias caps look set to form a central part of PV project development in Italy in 2012 and beyond. On 29 to 30 November in Berlin, GIFI and Italian developers and investors will meet with Europes key players in the PV sector at the Large Scale Rooftop Solar PV congress.
As the first conference to focus on this fast growing market sector, the meeting will focus on the central issues such as the stability of tariffs, how to obtain finance and ensure a good ROI and how to develop projects on different building types. Good returns on investment are possible, but reducing EPC costs and selecting the optimal technology and plant layout are crucial.
Terni Energia, SAG Solarstrom, Phoenix Solar and others will join owners of large buildings, policy influencers and investors to discuss their strategies in Italy and other European markets. Hear how developers are changing their strategies away from ground based projects and discover the growing interest in the property sector of leasing roof spaces for this very purpose. A number of places to join the conference and meet with director level executives from Europes PV community are still available.
