Italy

Italy’s ENEL will invest €80 million ($84.4 million) to convert its PV module manufacturing facility, in southern Italy, from amorphous silicon to bi-facial heterojunction modules. ENEL expects to launch its new modules in 2018 and to reach a capacity of 240 MW in 2019.

The Italian solar market grew by 22% in 2016. The country added 369 MW of new PV systems last year. This growth was mainly driven by tax breaks for the residential sector and the regulation for self-consumption. Most of these systems have a power of up to 100 kW.

The €2.5 million EU Horizon 2020 project coordinated by HZB tests materials to stabilize a membrane for photovoltaic-based hydrogen production.

The London-headquartered renewable energy merchant bank signs share purchase agreement to acquire five Sicilian solar parks built by SunPower and developed by Italy’s Veronagest SpA.

With this action the independent power producer has halved the value of its outstanding bonds, and will reduce its annual interest costs by 50%.

ANIE Rinnovabili, the country’s solar PV sector voice, is weighing actions against the feed-in tariff (FIT) cuts recently imposed to existing photovoltaic installations. Tariff reductions were absolutely unnecessary, the energy association says.

Italy has raised the upper limit for net metering in the country from 200 kW to 500 kW per installation. The measure is set to boost the commercial rooftop PV sector.

Solar PV scored an unprecedented amount of electricity output, increasing its contribution to Italy’s energy mix to 7.3% of the total electricity demand in the first seven months of the year.