Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution (PTD) has installed and commissioned two photovoltaic systems that will feed electricity to the Italian power grid. The order for the two systems was placed by Ecosesto, a subsidiary of the Actelios Group of Milan, whose core business includes power generation from renewable energy sources.
The solar systems are installed on the site of a biomass power plant in southern Italy and on the façade of a waste recycling plant in Lombardy. The latter is the first photovoltaic system of this size in Italy to be integrated into a building.
In Rende, southern Italy, Siemens PTD installed the solar system on a 12 x 150 m steel structure on the façade of a biomass plant. The system is equipped with 5500 monocrystalline solar modules from Sharp, generating a total of 1.4 GWh of electrical energy. The energy is fed into the Italian power supply system via a 1000 kVA Geafol cast-resin transformer, gas insulated medium voltage switchgear and the necessary inverter technology. The system provides an environmentally friendly supply of electrical power for 450 households.
The second photovoltaic project is a façade-mounted solar system with a total output of 70 kW. Siemens has clad the 40 m high façade of a waste recycling plant belonging to the Actelios Group in Trezzo in Lombardy with solar modules, and linked up the system to the Italian power supply network.