Italy is the second European market, after Germany, in solar thermal with a total installed capacity of 2,7 million square meters, equal to almost 2 Gwth. The volume of business amounts to half a billion euros, with an increase of 3% in 2010 compared to the previous year, while there are around 15 employees in the sector.
Valeria Verga, general secretary of Assolterm (Italian solar thermal association), explained that “if we consider the per capita installed capacity, the panorama changes, indicating significant margins for development which depend more than on the sun, which is certainly not scarce in our country from a legislative framework so far not very favorable to adequate solar thermal development. The density of solar thermal systems installed in Italy, in fact, is still below the European average, despite the great potential”.
In the meantime, new incentives have arrived for solar thermal. This is a tax deduction between 52% and 39% with awards for innovative and corrective technologies based on the climate zone. The Ministry of Economic Development has developed new regulations for incentives for the production of thermal energy. The provision, envisaged by the renewables decree (Legislative Decree 28/2011), will regulate the disbursement of contributions for the production of thermal energy from renewable sources and for small-scale energy efficiency incentives. The new decree should provide for a variable deduction from a maximum of 52% for insulation systems and the installation of large-scale condensing boilers and heat pumps for the production of hot water, to 39% for condensing boilers smaller and for the replacement of fixtures.
