Solar power in Italy

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Solar power is an important contributor to electricity generation in Italy, accounting for 8% of the total in 2017.^[1] As of 2022, the country has a total installed capacity of 22.56 GW.^[2][3] In 2019, Italy set a national goal of reaching 50 GW by 2030.^[4]

Since the dawn of industrialisation Italy has utilized alternative energy sources with few fossil fuel resources of its own, including both hydroelectric and early solar power proposals. In more recent times, during the first decade of this century, Italy was the third country after Germany and Spain to experience an unprecedented boom in solar installations after actively promoting solar power through government incentives. In July 2005, the country launched its first "Conto Energia" programme supporting the development of renewable power. Growth in solar installations picked up immediately but it was the years 2009–2013 that saw a boom in installed photovoltaic (PV) nameplate capacity, increasing nearly 15-fold, and 2012's year-end capacity of over 16 GW ranked second in the world after Germany. Solar capacity growth slowed after 2013, due to cessation of governmental subsidy programmes.^[5] Since then, annual installed PV capacity has been growing steadily at around 300–400 MW per year.

Apart from the more conventional solar PV technology, Italy may in the future challenge Spain as the role of Europe's leading country in the developing technology concentrated solar power (CSP). CSP requires higher direct solar irradiation to function efficiently, which leaves only part of the country suitable for this technique.^[6] However, the southern regions as well as the islands of Sicily and Sardinia offer good conditions for CSP, and the Italian government has made large investments to promote this development.^[7]