Solar energy: a crucial challenge against climate change



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It is also enlightened by solar energy the way forward to combat climate change. Indeed, photovoltaics is today facing a vast area in which to develop development opportunities for the transition to an increasingly renewable supply system: " To achieve the objectives of the Paris agreement, there should be an increase in panel installations from here 2025 up to 9 times higher than what was estimated ", says Agnieszka Schulze Public Relations Manager at REC Group, the largest solar module brand in Europe based in Norway.

The opportunity to take stock of the future of the photovoltaic sector gave him "Intersolar Europe", the largest exhibition in Europe dedicated to the world of solar energy, recently concluded in Munich and started as a result of the European decision to bring the weight of renewable energy in the EU to at least 32% of the energy system by 2030 (by 20% forecast for 2020) :
Greenpeace to which, however, are added facilities for the right of citizens to produce their own energy. According to REC, to reach the new EU target, panel installations across Europe will almost double from 2017 levels.

PHOTOVOLTAIC GROWS

D & # 39; after the data that emerged in "Intersolar", at the end of 2018, facilities in Europe for solar energy will exceed 10 gigawatts (GW): 11 GW are estimated for this year and further growth is expected for 2019 to 16 GW (+ 45%); in 2017, the growth of the European market was 28%. Next year, for Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Turkey, an average increase of 42% is estimated on the l & # 39; all 7 GW this year. Overall, 2017 was a milestone for the sector, as for the first time the solar generation capacity has exceeded 100 GW and this year we expect to reach a similar level. By 2025, considering the increasing rates of electrification, solar energy could represent 20% of the global energy mix and it is in the Far East that a match Crucial is being played as new roads open in Australia, South America, Middle East.

THE BEIJING CHALLENGE

Last year, 70% of photovoltaic investments were concentrated between India, Japan and, especially, China . Beijing already produces three quarters of the panels sold worldwide and at very competitive prices. The United States follow, despite Washington's decision to abandon the Paris agreement. The Chinese desire to dominate a market that offers many profit opportunities is motivated by growth in the economy and demographics, with the consequent increase in demand for electricity, and is also being measured the fact that a company manager like REC (more than 2,000 employees and annual panel for 1.5 GW) sells virtually everywhere in the world, "mainly in Europe (especially in Germany, Benelux and in France), in the USA, in Australia, in India, except in China ", explains the general manager Steve O. Neil.

Photovoltaic markets are now driven by a sharp drop in prices due to the growing supply : in Germany, for example, we fell for the first time under 4 cents euro for kWh from solar parks; In Chile, Peru, Saudi Arabia and Dubai, it is currently less than 2.5 cents. The International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) predicts a halving of production costs in solar parks by 2020 . And the efficiency of new solar cell prototypes is growing.

During "Intersolar", REC created its new "N-Type" module (with 60 monocrystalline cells cut in half), which promises to be among the most energy efficient compared to extension and high performance up to At the end of the life cycle. "In the face of Chinese competition, we are focusing on sustainability – says O. Neil.This is a system that creates new opportunities for large factories, businesses and individuals, even in redevelopment of buildings. old, where the roofs are not always sufficient for the needs.

MARGINS FOR ITALY

In Italy, REC supplied panels for various corporate facilities, including a factory for Calzedonia and, in Piedmont, for the vineyard of the Marquis de Grésy in Barbaresco (Cuneo ). Our country is among those who have already achieved in 2016 the target of the share of renewable energy set by the EU for 2020 : it was 17% and we arrived at 17, 4% two years ago, although this is an even smaller share compared to that of other states like neighboring Austria, which has reached 33.5% the same year. According to Terna, in Italy, installations of 409.4 MW (megawatts) were installed in Italy: + 11% compared to 2016. The solar represents about 24% of the renewable energy produced.

"Italy has tremendous potential especially in large factories, since until now the market has been mostly supported by self-consumption and could reach more. 3 GW of solar per year. For the future, southern European countries can become clean energy exporters rather than continue to import fossil fuels, "says Cesar Alberte, Vice President of Array Technologies, a neo-Mexican company founded 29 years ago by Ron Corio, to move solar panels like sunflowers, maximizing their exposure. The Array System – which in Munich announced the appointment of the new general manager Jim Fusaro – works on systems of at least 1 MW and has the particularity of moving 32 rows of panels with a single engine : "A system that reduces losses and costs of energy and maintenance," promises Fusaro. The mechanical structure is composed of folding supports that allow you to install solar systems according to the morphology of the soil.

CLEAN ENERGY FOR THE THIRD WORLD

The market for tracking systems such as those developed by Array is expected to grow by 32% for next year. The Indian giant Sterling & Wilson, which uses solar installations in countries like Morocco (the largest in North Africa), Egypt, Zambia, Bangladesh, Namibia, Niger, Philippines and Vietnam, also uses this type of technology. then in the world's largest photovoltaic power plant in Sweihan, Abu Dhabi: 1177 MW on an area of ​​7.8 square kilometers (the second largest solar park in China, reaches "only" 850 MW), and this can avoid every year CO emissions 2 for 7 million tonnes.

" The low cost per kWh now makes solar energy better than that of coal even for developing countries ," says Alberte. The price of installations indeed, has suffered a sharp decline in recent years: has decreased by 73% since 2010 . "Today, factories can be built very quickly and do not necessarily need network infrastructure to meet local needs," O Neil adds. What makes them ideal for guaranteeing affordable energy to this slice of the world's population who still can not access it. " This is more than a billion people , to which the seventh objective of the UN Agenda 2030 calls for an energetic response .In this context the prospects for the market of the opportunity of the panels that have exceeded 25-30 years of optimal life are expanded: "The aluminum, glbad, plastic, dust can be recovered silicon, etc., and there are new methods to regenerate the cells.But they can also be reused in the countries in progress. even if they have a lower yield, "says O. Neil A problem related to disposal, especially for old panels, is the presence of hazardous materials such as heavy metals and in particular cadmium. 9016] MUOVERSI COL SOLE

In Munich, among the 1,177 exhibitors from 49 countries, the new "Power2Drive" show, dedicated to the world of electric mobility, has played a major role in presenting innovative charging systems for vehicles electric. roofs for cars capable of providing energy to the radio, air conditioner and other accessories, to vehicles powered directly by the sun. The Chinese Hanergy is a colossus of more than 15 thousand employees involved in the production of walls for buildings and roads. in a photovoltaic sense, and clothes to charge mobile devices. But he also designed vehicles that use solar energy as the main driving force: The cars of the "Hanergy Solar" series, with 5-6 hours of exposure to sunny days, can travel on 80 km, and can recharge even while driving . This is a technology that also applies to boats, as is already the case with the "Dream", created in collaboration with an Ecuadorian company two years ago for transport in the basin of the Amazon River, or the yacth inaugurated in July 2017 on Dongting Lake, in Hunan Province, northeast of China.

Among the Hanergy products there is also a small remote-controlled aircraft and even modules to be applied to satellites in space orbit.

The Chinese giant's solutions overcome one of the most widespread problems of electric mobility in Italy: that of the weak diffusion of charging stations. Also for this reason
in our country electric cars account for only 0.3% of the automotive market while Enel announced an investment plan of 300 million euros. Euros in charging infrastructure for the coming years .

The Lws system in Hamburg presented at the Munich Motor Show wind turbines, specially designed for the Norwegian market, where from 2025 onwards internal combustion engines will be banned. These columns could be integrated with solar panels, but imagine a similar mechanism powered solely by photovoltaics, in light of current technology, this is not possible.

Of course, there are "parking" charging stations with solar roofs and domestic photovoltaic systems for your car.

In the future, electric cars can become storage tools and even restore energy to their homes . Job Karstens, from the Dutch company EVBox (which has built more than 50,000 stations in more than 800 cities worldwide), recounts the case of California, where "there are about 300,000 electric vehicles and only 13,000 charging stations ". which aims to become a "zero emission" city by 2025 and where there are already about 19,000 electric vehicles, including 400 taxis, while we have installed 1,500 columns powered by a wind network. The goal is to have 4 miles by the end of the year. "This is a data that reflects, given the fact that there are Announcement of the new Minister of the Environment, Sergio Costa, a loan for the purchase of new electric buses to municipalities most affected by fine particles.

Note the modular charging system and storage presented by Porsche, which will arrive on the market in the middle of next year, which will allow you to use only 15 minutes to refuel. Among the 35 Italian exhibitors present In Monaco, only i-EM, based in Livorno and Turin, was present in the sector dedicated to e-mobility: it has developed a service that collects information on the status of terminals recharge and recharge the vehicle to optimize energy flow, reducing time and costs, and pay attention to the problem s possible such as energy peaks.


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