Terna report: photovoltaic installations increase, and sun ballast grows by 165%
Terna’s new report on the Italian electricity system shows a complex overall situation: the first months of 2023 saw a slight drop in production, but new photovoltaic installations are growing rapidly. The green transition is increasingly solar-powered, and Sun Ballast has surpassed one million ballasts sold.
With a slightly cooler February compared to that of 2022 (- 0.7 °C), in terms of renewable electricity production and consumption, the second month of 2023 saw a 6.6 percent decline in energy generated from renewable sources compared to February 2022. This figure is mainly linked to a sharp decrease in wind power production, which fell by more than 20 percent; on the other hand, the photovoltaic sector showed a positive figure: from 1,697 GW in February 2022, it reached 1,734 GW this year, a growth of 2.2 percent.
However, this positive signal shrinks somewhat when combining the February figure with that of January 2023: while in the first two months of 2022 the energy produced by all Italian photovoltaic plants was 2,969 GW, in the same period of 2023 the number dropped to 2,829 GW, signalling a decrease of 140 GW and 4.7 percentage points compared to the previous year. Therefore, the first two months of 2023 saw both total renewable energy production (down 6.6 percent) and production from the solar sector (down by 4.7 percent) decline compared to the same period last year.
ALMOST 700 MW OF NEW PV SYSTEMS
Fortunately, the numbers regarding new installations show the opposite trend: compared to the previous year, in January and February 2023 the capacity of newly-installed renewable power reached + 769 MW, a truly remarkable figure, which translates into a growth of 234% compared to 2022. Clear indicators of a booming and rapidly evolving industry, driven by strong technological innovation and thousands of companies that, like Sun Ballast, have found a way to combine entrepreneurial skills and ambition with a clear and ethical vision of the future.
The most positive sign of this steady improvement comes from the solar sector itself: of the 769 MW of newly-installed capacity, 672 comes from new photovoltaic systems. That is: more than 87% of the renewable energy generated in Italy by new installations comes from photovoltaic plants, particularly from the many new installations located in Lombardy, Veneto and Piedmont. This is an extremely encouraging figure for all industry players, emphasizing yet again the unbreakable link between the green transition and the photovoltaic sector.
SUN BALLAST: ONE MILLION BALLASTS AND TRIPLE-DIGIT GROWTH
For more than a decade, Sun Ballast has been at the vanguard of the development of innovative solutions that encourage the deployment of photovoltaic systems, making installation increasingly simple and fast: first and foremost, this means facilitating the work of installers and making the design phases easier and more intuitive; but it also means making systems more accessible, both for companies that want to reduce their energy costs and for private actors looking for more sustainable and environmentally conscious consumption patterns.
That focus has remained a constant since 2012, and the expertise the company has gained over the years has allowed it to achieve a leading role in the field of flat roof PV racking. In fact, the number of ballasts produced in 2022 far exceeded one million pieces, and the first quarter of 2023 confirms the positive trend: a +131% increase compared to the same period in 2022. The number of quotes is also growing: in 2022 they exceeded 25 thousand, with the growth rate of new audiences reaching an incredible +87%, leading to an overall increase in sales of over +165%. These numbers speak volumes about the vibrancy of the PV industry, proving once again that the best inventions are those that make work simpler.
QUALITY, SIMPLICITY AND SKILL
Making PV system installation easier and faster has always been Sun Ballast’s primary goal. Ten years later, the company continues to be rewarded for that commitment by hundreds of partner companies and installers around the world. Growth trends also affect the work of the Technical Department – one of Sun Ballast’s greatest assets – which every day provides thousands of technicians and designers with fast and free support at all stages of installation: in 2022 there were more than 23,000 technical reports processed by the service department, and the figure for the first quarter of 2023 indicates a further 30 percent increase over the previous year. Staff numbers are also showing remarkable increases: in 2022, the Sun Ballast Team added 32 new members, a +40% increase in hiring compared to 2021.
Today, Sun Ballast is active in more than 40 countries, including France, Spain and Germany, extending from Tunisia to Eastern Europe and the Dominican Republic, all the way to the new headquarters in Miami, Florida, USA. Steady expansion built on a rich network of international distributors has made Sun Ballast solutions easily and quickly accessible worldwide.
A success that stems from the quality of the structures, their simplicity, and the quick and professional service constantly available to all designers and installers.
All-around support is key, because shared experience is what improvement is built upon.
