Italy

The panel has an absorption area of 1.96 m2 and a weight of 27 kg per square meter. According to the manufacturer – Swiss startup TVP Solar – it may be a real booster for thermal output, by combining it with photovoltaics and heat pumps to provide enhanced output per square meter, in particular for low-temperature applications such as district heating.

Scientists tested bifacial PV devices based on silicon and gallium arsenide cells connected in a four terminal layout. They note that the four terminal design offers significant advantages over more common two terminal devices, allowing for a 17% (relative) increase in efficiency thanks to better absorption of light reaching the rear side.

Developers are making hay as far as PPA prices are concerned thanks to eye-watering wholesale electricity prices which mean they can just sell their solar and wind power on the open market.

An international research team has developed a new methodology to increase levels of pollination at ground-mounted solar plants. It involves the development of new vegetated land cover below and around solar parks.

Enel and Vulcan Energy are looking at the potential for lithium mining at a site near Rome.

On June 27, the Guidelines for The Design, Construction and Operation of Agrovoltaic Plants were published in Italy by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, in coordination with the Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of Agricultural Economics (CREA), Gestore dei Servizi Energetici S.p.A. (GSE), the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), and Research on the Energy System S.p.A. (RSE). From now on, developers and, in general, RES plant owners will have to consider the principles herein outlined, to have their plants classified as agrovoltaic.

The Regional Court of Apulia in Italy has ruled that the regional authorities must not deny permits to solar projects on agricultural land without considering how they combine electricity generation with crop cultivation and the raising of livestock. pv magazine spoke to Emilio Sani from law firm Sani Zangrando about the ruling’s potential consequences.

Italy installed 281 MW more solar in the first three months of the year than it did in the same period a year earlier. Its cumulative capacity surpassed 23 GW by the end of March.

An Italian-Greek research group has developed a large-area perovskite solar panel with graphene-doped electron transporting layers. With increasing temperatures, the module exhibits a smaller drop in open-circuit voltage than commercially available crystalline silicon panels.

Italian solar panel manufacturer Sunerg has developed an integrated photovoltaic water heater solution based on two resistances. The system relies on a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller and can work with a PV module with a power output of up to 450 W.