“Photovoltaics would have an immediate effect on reducing utility bills, cutting costs by 40 to 70%. Estimating an average cost reduction of 50% (within the range of 40 to 70%), a total savings of about 24 billion euros could be achieved for Italian families.” This is according to Veronica Pitea, President of ACEPER (Association of Consumers and Producers of Renewable Energies), an organization that brings together 10,000 renewable energy production plants, representing over 7,000 members with a total installed capacity exceeding 2 GWp. However, she warns about sector issues in our country: “We need to resolve important problems such as: the production of the raw materials necessary to do significant work, the workforce needed to carry it out, and the disposal methods for batteries and panels at the end of their life.

Unfortunately, in Italy – Pitea continues – bureaucracy and, above all, the instability of our governments slow down the massive installation of photovoltaic panels and the development towards renewables. Between the Save Italy decree, incentive spreading, Tremonti environment, windfall profits, those who invest often face new expenses and have to revise their business plans, because the State promises things but every change in government turns previous projections into a “broken promise.”

The ACEPER President then addresses the issue of the new “green” EU directives, which require all residential buildings to be converted to class E by 2030: “The main problem is that more than 60% of our buildings are in class F/G, not to mention that the next step would be to bring them up to class D… To reach these levels, we must imagine an Italy that changes completely. Let’s say we should imagine a 110% multiplied probably by 1000. We also have another problem in Italy: according to the Land Agency, there are currently about 2 million ghost houses and more than 35% of registered buildings do not comply with regulations. We need to address these issues to ‘give a new face in terms of efficiency’: will we be able to do it by 2030? We certainly need to align with the demands that the Earth itself makes of us; it’s no longer a matter of imposed rules but of necessity, and consequently, it will have to be done in some way.”

Veronica Pitea estimates that this transition required by the EU will need a large workforce: “Today, with the current demand in the photovoltaic sector, there is already a shortage of about 500,000 workers; if we consider that by 2030 we must strictly adhere to the EU deadlines, we will likely need at least another 3 million. We will certainly need many workers, electricians, engineers, surveyors, architects, and construction sector professionals. In all regions, without exception.”

Finally, regarding the UN announcement that the ozone hole will close within 20 years, ACEPER’s President comments: “Photovoltaics could accelerate this change because it reduces CO2 emissions, one of the main causes of the ozone hole. To produce one kilowatt-hour of electricity, an average of 2.56 kWh of fossil fuels is burned, resulting in the emission of about 0.53 kg of carbon dioxide into the air. Therefore, it can be said that every kWh produced by a photovoltaic system avoids the emission of 0.53 kg of CO2. If we consider that out of 14 million (census) buildings, we have just over 1 million installations…” concludes Veronica Pitea.