Residential solar growth boosts Italy’s Q1 solar additions

Italy brought online 1,058 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) parks in the first quarter of 2023, reaching a cumulative installed capacity of over 26,100 MW, shows data released by the domestic solar energy association Italia Solare.

The total quarterly additions are almost equal to the combined capacity connected to the grid in the first two quarters of 2022 when 1,012 MW of solar farms kicked off operations. More than half of the new installations were plants of less than 20 kW, which accounted for 647 MW. With 569 MW installed, the residential segment, in which plants of up to 12 kW in size are installed, was a major driver, boosting deployments by 239% on the year.

Plants with capacities ranging between 20 kW and 1 MW were responsible for 289 MW of the total and represented a 126% year-on-year rise, while the above-1-MW category brought 123 MW.

By region, Lombardia was the area with the largest portion of new installations -- 190 MW in total. Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Piedmont came next with 169 MW, 118 MW and 106 MW, respectively.

At the end of March 2023, Italy had 26,106 MW of solar capacity coming from 1.22 million plants. The national goal calls for reaching 50 GW by the end of the decade.

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