Italy

A group of researchers from Italy investigated the economic competitiveness of various ground mounted and floating PV systems with regard to cost and performance, taking into consideration revenues due to reduced water evaporations. They found that the use of non-evaporated water at photovoltaic system sites can achieve revenues greater than $3/kW if used for irrigation and higher than $4/kW if sold to generate hydroelectricity.

A lack of clear policy support, raw material dependency, and higher production costs are inhibiting the localization of European solar manufacturing, despite strong demand.

Levante is now offering foldable solar panels with the same performance of rigid panels. The portable modules are available in 330 W and 500 W versions.

Italian scientists have developed a flexible indoor perovskite solar cell with 32.5% efficiency. Their design uses a PET substrate combined with a tetrabutylammonium bromide layer over the perovskite absorber. This additional layer effectively reduces defect density and enhances the stability of the underlying 3D perovskite structure.

A fire occurred broke out this week at a layer poultry farm in Volpago del Montello, Italy. The blaze, which killed more than 20,000 birds, reportedly may have originated from a PV system on the premises.

Italian scientific institutions have published new regulatory practices for agrivoltaics, with a specific focus on electricity production, agricultural output, and landscape preservation.

Enel says it will work with Italian startup Reiwa to develop a robot for waterless cleaning of PV plants. The innovative device features brushes and can autonomously navigate across panel rows, eliminating the need for human intervention.

Massimo Albino Russo, head of business development for Enerqos Energy Solutions, recently spoke with pv magazine Italy about its smart O&M service to detect dysfunctions in solar arrays hit by hail. The Ameresco Group subsidiary uses drones and artificial intelligence to deal with PV system damage.

Compared to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) signed by Joe Biden’s administration in the US, the EU’s approach to establishing solar manufacturing appears slow and lacking in clarity. In this blog post, I will explore the EU’s renewable energy policy, specifically its emphasis on solar manufacturing, and evaluate whether Brussels is doing enough to establish a European solar supply chain.

Scientists in Italy have developed a 5 kW direct-expansion solar-assisted heat pump that uses alternatively two different evaporator technologies. The cooling of the PV module unit by CO2 evaporation increases power production by 8%.