Italy

Developed by Italian dry bottom ash handling system provider Magaldi Power, the system produces green thermal energy — steam or hot air — which can be used directly in industrial plants or for the generation of electricity using steam turbines. The system consists of a blower, a fluidization air blowing system, a fluidization air suction system, an air filter and fan, an air pre-heater, and an integrated thermal energy storage module. Silica sands are the system’s storage media.

The Euro trade body has promised to monitor the developing solar jobs market annually from now on, and pointed to Poland’s position at the top of the tree of EU member states for PV jobs last year as evidence the technology can still benefit from legislative backing.

Developed by cleantech company Verditek, the flexible module has a 20.1% efficiency and a weight of 4.9kg. It can bend up to 35% using standard 160µ-thick crystalline cells.

Sergio Matalucci reports for pv magazine from the Key Energy event in Rimini on how the Italian solar market is currently dealing with the module price hike and the supply change disruption. According to the president of Italian association Italia Solare, difficulties to source modules in the market have intensified over the last four months.

In a chat with pv magazine at the Key Energy event in Rimini, Roberta Valenziani, of Italian trade body Elettricità Futura, explained the factors preventing Italy’s PV market from having a renaissance. She said the country has Europe’s longest delays and highest costs for obtaining permits for large scale solar.

Efforts are being made to come up with a less convoluted approach to planning farm-based solar systems, in the only EU member state which explicitly apportioned funds for agrivoltaics in its post-Covid spending plans.

The country added 60MW/106 MWh in the first half of the year. Energy storage continues to grow with the region of Lombardy and Veneto being the two largest contributors.

CCE Solar Invest GmbH has secured financing to build 600 MW of PV capacity in Italy.

Italian startup EnergyGlass has developed a solar tile with 4 mm double-laminated safety glass. It is available in black, white and colored versions and has power outputs ranging from 120 W to 290 W. The tiles can be used to replace conventional roofs or they can be integrated into existing rooftops.

The Italian power electronics specialist has launched a single-phase inverter, a three-phase device, and a residential battery. The three products will be available for sale starting from January.