Gert Gremes, president of GIFI (Italian PV Industry Association) and CEO of PV distributor Tecnospot, said the Italian PV market will see 3 GW of new capacity installed in the next three years.
“I am sure that in 2010 the Italian PV market will once more rank in second place worldwide in terms of newly installed capacity,” Gremes said. He attributed this growth to the government’s initiative that allows all PV plants to be granted the 2010 tariffs if installed by December 31 and connected to the grid by June 30, 2011. He added, “Compared to 2009, this means that the annual PV market in 2010 is more than likely to double and reach a figure close to 1.5 GWh.”
Gremes said that feed-in tariffs would gradually decrease in 2011 in three stages every four months including 5% to 25% for roof top installations and 5% to 27% for ground-mounted systems. However, he believes that the impact will be minimal. A major trend seen by Grimes will be the same as many other European countries: roof top installations – both residential and commercial – will continue to drive the market. He also seesn power plants playing an important role in the next three years.
The industry expert also said that the biggest challenges for the Italian PV market were legislative stability, bureaucratic burden on licensing, and the procedures for grid connectivity. However, Gremes added that there were many opportunities for Italy and its growing PV industry.
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