Photovoltaic energy is undergoing an important phase of transition towards consolidation and maturity that will form the basis of a second phase of growth and development at the international level. This was the optimistic statement that ended the second and last day of the Global Solar Summit, the first edition of the international conference staged in Italy, in Milan, as part of Solarexpo-The Innovation Cloud.

Many topics were tackled during the two days, which began yesterday with a very lively debate on trade disputes and the possibility of customs tariffs on photovoltaic products, coinciding with news of the European Commission’s proposal for tariffs on Chinese photovoltaic equipment, on which a final decision is expected on June 5.

The evolution of the instruments of “green” finance came to the fore during the session "Supporting and financing growth” with a speech by David Colt, a partner of Global Power Finance, who said: “Italy has great potential for development, although a series of conditions still persist that create a barrier to the full development of the market. Of a total of 18 GW of power installed, only a few hundred watts are handled on the secondary market."

Francesco Starace, CEO of Enel Green Power, spoke during the concluding session on the topic “Scenarios: the next economic cycle of solar power", saying: “Europe, while continuing to represent 30-40% of the global photovoltaic market, will stop being the central market and attention will shift to markets that are displaying enormous potential for development, such as South Africa, Latin America, the Emirates and Saudi Arabia. All the regions of the southern Mediterranean will play a fundamental role, as will India, China and the United States, which in the next two years could become the main country in the world for solar power.”

“The first Global Solar Summit has enabled the international community to share very different contributions and points of view, all equally relevant to the make-up of an interesting scenario for the future of solar,” concluded Guido Agostinelli, director of the Global Solar Summit. “For the next five years, the prospects for the development of photovoltaic energy in Italy and Europe will centre on plants of around 1 MW in size, both residential and commercial. Solar energy will become more and more competitive within the energy mix and this opens up interesting prospects for all the operators.”

Tags: Solarexpo