Italy

Researchers in Italy have designed a water-source heat pump system intended for generating cooling, heating and domestic hot water in social housing stock built during the 1970s–1990s. The novel concept integrates photovoltaic-thermal energy with thermal storage and promises a seasonal coefficient of performance of 5.

A review of indoor PV cell technologies by an international research team delves into recent progress, characterization, and design strategies used to develop highly efficient cells. The study presents 250 commercial and laboratory devices, as well as applications and performance reporting.

Italy’s regional governments approved 3.358 MW of solar in the first half of this year, with Sicily leading by approving around one-third of the total new capacity.

Italy-based Rhoss has developed a cascaded water-source heat pump that uses either R1234ze or R515B as the refrigerant. It can purportedly produce hot water to a temperature of up to 85 C.

GoodWe has cut in half the time necessary to install a waterproof solar carport, according to the company’s Senior International Business Development Director of BIPV, Apollo Chai. He notes that the manufacturer has also already launched vertical and horizontal solar shades to address current gaps in the European market.

ERM says it has launched offshore trials to test its Dolphyn Hydrogen process, while Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) and Evoloh have completed a joint research project on electrolyzer manufacturing process and anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzer tech.

Researchers have simulated the operation of seven renewable energy communities in the Port of Naples and found them to offer lower life cycle costs. Using varying capacities of solar and wave energy, they were able to optimize the system to a 90% self-consumption rate. They also offered a scheme for the management of a port energy community.

Researchers in Italy have developed a low temperature a blanket-cover encapsulation technique that reportedly improves the stability of perovskite PV devices. They said the new technique reduces thermomechanical stresses caused by both the encapsulation process and the temperature gradients occurring during accelerated ageing stresses.

Researchers in Italy outlined a new model for estimating hydrogen production cost as a function of the plant’s component sizes. They tested both PV, wind, and hybrid production of hydrogen to determine the optimal size ratio for the 2030-2050 period. They also found that PV-powered hydrogen may currently achieve a levelized cost of hydrogen of €5.11/kg in Italy, with a PV ratio of 2.2.

Bluenergy is developing a 1.1 MW PV system on Udinese Calcio’s football stadium in Italy. The company said the project might include a 300 kW battery.