Two years, a period of time that appears short for important changes to occur, especially in complex and innovative sectors such as photovoltaic. Yet, within two years, the photovoltaic systems have experienced a major expansion in Italy, data that is worth observing to understand how the photovoltaic phenomenon is taking hold with a speed that could perhaps have been foreseen, but was not expected to materialize so quickly. A sign, this widespread diffusion of clean energywhich gives us hope from both an economic and environmental point of view, and makes it clear that the resistance towards the installation of photovoltaic systems is slowly crumbling.
Photovoltaic numbers in Italy
According to the report GSE 2023 in Italy, at the end of last year, they were connected over 1.5 million photovoltaic systems for a total power equal to 30.28 GWof which 50% is produced by the commercial and industrial sector, 29% by the residential sector and the remaining 22% by the utility-scale sector.
Data in clear growth, practically doubled, compared to 2022, with a +85% in relation to the number of connected plants (over 370 thousand were connected that year) and a +111% in relation to the connected power. Incentives such as the Super bonus and theincrease in energy prices. This last condition, in particular, has caused many users to divert to photovoltaic systems, however, even when the bill emergency was over, there was no setback, demonstrating how the advantages of photovoltaics have been, in in the meantime, conceived with greater awareness. Not to mention that, should there be a new surge in prices, photovoltaics would help to significantly amortize the costs.
For the 2024 an equally rosy outlook is expected, confirmed by the performance of the first three months of the year, with a notable leap upwards in photovoltaic capacity equal to 1,721 MW (in the same period of 2023 it was 1,058 MW).
A record-breaking Lombardy
By shifting the focus to a more local level, the Lombardy in these two years it has established itself as the leading region in the Bel Paese in terms of photovoltaics. According to Terna, a company that transmits electricity across the national territory, in March this year (2024) Lombardy boasted an installed power equal to 4.3 GW derived from almost 280 thousand photovoltaic systems, out of a total of 32 GW in Italy. An extremely significant figure, suffice it to note that Puglia, second behind Lombardy, emits 3.4 GW. A region that dictates supremacy in the field, more and more: in the first quarter of this year Lombardy achieved 304 MW out of a national total of 1.7 MW. Residential systems predominate (although decreasing due to the lack of the Superbonus) but also industrial ones. To take an even further step forward, we would need to exploit the countryside, or in any case open spaces, to build large photovoltaic systems: this would translate into more power and less outlay for the people of Lombardy.
Photovoltaic in Bergamo
Narrowing his gaze even more, and pointing it up Bergamo and province, it can be noted that already in the last months of 2022 the Bergamo area had been included by Italia Sole (an association dedicated to photovoltaics) in the top ten places of the “photovoltaic” provinces. When the ranking was drawn up, the first six months of 2022 were taken into consideration. Bergamo positioned itself in eighth place with 24.52 MW And 1,919 new plants. In the entire Bergamo area, however, the total was 393.68 MW with over 25 thousand systems. What caused photovoltaics to surge was a greater sensitivity towards the environment but also the war in Ukraine, which had severe consequences on electricity bills. The next year, 2023the boom of photovoltaic panels in Bergamo was extremely significant, especially in the first seven months: from January to July, in fact, the increase was 62% compared to the same period in 2022, with numerous connection requests received by companies specialized in the development of these installations, which made the province of Bergamo jump to second place in the region with regards to the green transaction. It is followed mainly by families or small entrepreneurs with the aim of reducing expenses by producing and self-consuming energy. And in the future there could be more and more people who will take this burden off thanks to the birth, in Bergamo, of what could become the largest CER (Renewable Energy Community) in Italy. CER Imotorrethis is its name, will have 6,300 photovoltaic panels for more than 3 MW of power, for an annual production of around 4 million kW, which would satisfy the needs of the local population, as well as saving money for other families in the Lombardy area. A turning point for Lombardy, but also for the rest of the nation, which will be able to count on clean energy, increasingly indispensable to face the challenges of the future. And progress has already been made in a short time, as we have seen.
