Italy

The Italian manufacturer said the product is based on a technical solution previously used for power downgrading. The device is said to be ideal for projects at altitudes greater than 1,000m.

Storage has long been expected to be the handmaiden of a renewable energy world and its long awaited advances started to finally emerge in the third quarter as researchers posited R&D achievements ranging from potentially potent tungsten disulfide nanotubes to the business case for 10-year solar panels.

The first part of pv magazine’s review of 2019 considers Q1, when solar early adopter Italy offered an optimistic start to the year by fleshing out its plans for PV but uncertainty still clouded the world’s biggest solar market. The potential for household solar installations to rocket the world over – helped by ever cheaper panels – prompted strategic decisions in the inverter market and analyst expectations were confounded as the cobalt and lithium price plummeted, bringing the EV revolution a big step nearer.

With the move, the Italian infrastructure fund has raised its operational renewable energy portfolio to 1 GW and secured access to the Spanish market for its EF Solare unit.

The Italia Solare Forum event held in Rome laid bare the difficulty of securing permits for large scale projects at national and regional levels. Fast-tracking the process for big solar parks appears necessary to get Italian PV back on track.

The European Commission has approved use of funds given by seven member states to back Europe-wide R&D projects across the lithium-ion battery value chain, with the aim of potentially unlocking an additional €5 billion in private sector investment.

The Italian utility has agreed to buy the PV development pipeline for an undisclosed sum via a subsidiary, and vowed to start building its first large-scale, subsidy-free PV plant in the early months of 2020.

In a short conversation with pv magazine, the company’s CEO, Vito Nardi, said shipments for this year are expected to reach 866 MW. The inverter manufacturer also expects a rate of production of 2 GW per year by the end of next year.

The German project developer’s pipeline consists of solar plants with land and grid-connection approval across Apulia and Basilicata. Some of the projects are planned in the province of Brindisi, which already hosts several solar parks which have stirred strong resistance from local authorities and civil associations.

The investment manager is now Europe’s largest renewable energy fund. The €1.3 billion group already has a 1.8 GW generation portfolio.