Enel and the Future of Solar Power
Enel is on the leading edge of research and innovation in solar power technology, with its activities and infrastructure receiving acknowledgement by major international institutes like the Electric Power Research Institute
Enel and the Future of Solar Power
Solar power has created great expectations for its potential contribution to realising a sustainable, low-carbon energy system, and the EnelGroup is committed to innovation and development of the technology. The International Solar Meeting, which was organised by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and held at Enel’s research centre in Pisa last month, showed the excellent results that the Group has obtained.
The EPRI is one of the world's major electricity study institutes and, as Head of Enel’s Research Area Sauro Pasini said, 'it’s not the first time that it has chosen our centre in Pisa as the place to hold one of its meetings, acknowledging our role as a leading utility in energy research'.
The meeting in Pisa was attended by experts from important research centres and major electricity utilities, who discussed trends and results relating to innovation, including some of Enel’s outstanding achievements, like Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) at the Archimede plant near Syracuse in Sicily, and the PVLaboratory in Catania, which is among the best in the world forthe characterisation of PV solar technologies.
Pisa is also the site of Diamante, the cutting edge solar power plant which enables electricity generation at night thanks to a storage system combined with a fuel cell. Enel Green Power has also built the wold's first solar-geothermal power plant in the world in the American state of Nevada.
Enel’s Research Centre in Catania is a reference point both for solar thermal dynamic (the centre is in close contact with the Archimede plant), and for PV solar power. The latter’s performance is being studied under diverse conditions, with the panels’ resilience being assessed under extreme weather conditions and tests being carried out to see if costs can be further minimised.