Photovoltaic under 1 MW: in Italy they produce 33 TWh per year

The almost 2.2 million photovoltaic systems under 1 MW installed in Italy can produce a total of around 33 TWh of electricity per year, i.e. almost 10% of the annual requirement of the national electricity grid. Considered as a whole, these millions of small plants would therefore constitute the second renewable energy force in the country after hydroelectric, ahead of the 22 TWh/year of wind power and the 18 TWh/year of bioenergy.

The data comes from a processing by the Center for Solar Communities which in collaboration with the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (Sima), Solar Info Community (SIC) and Non-Profit Consumerism which is launching an innovative project today.

"More and more citizens and businesses produce and share energy through small renewable plants. But what happens when this sharing, normally invisible to citizens, becomes measurable and understandable? Can it change the way we use energy? And what repercussions can it have on people's well-being? - explains Sima - The project will be able to count on an already operational digital infrastructure. Through 500 smart meters installed in Italy, data will be collected from consumption and production meters through conveyed waves and Wi-Fi connections. Every 15 minutes thousands of data they will flow into the platform's servers where production and consumption are linked and the shared energy is accounted for.

The network currently includes 42 collective self-consumption sections, 500 families and 90 businesses".

"We have transformed hundreds of meters distributed across the territory into points of a digital network - explains Leonardo Setti of the University of Bologna, president of the Center for Solar Communities - Sharing is an energy phenomenon, but it can also become a social fact. Understanding whether and to what extent this happens is a new research question".

"The next step is to understand what this information means for people. Making shared energy visible can help citizens change their consumption, but we also want to understand how participation in a community is perceived and what conditions are necessary for technology and digitalisation to produce truly accessible and understandable benefits", explains Marinella Michelato, CEO of Solar Info Community Srl Benefit Company.