The Italian Solar Thermal Association (ASSOLTERM) estimates that 208 MW were installed last year. If this is accurate, the total capacity installed has increased by 37% compared to 2007, assuring the Italy´s position in the top 5 European solar thermal energy markets.

As far as the photovoltaic market is concerned, however, most of the 450 experts in the CIS-IT in early February, did not foresee Italy or Spain catching up to Germany. "The total installed PV capacity reached only 280 MW last year," says Gerardo Montanino, operations director of the GSE, the italian electricity company responsible for the national grid. "The abundant number of visitors to both areas, photovoltaic and thermal solar energies, show that they are becoming very important in the country," writes Raffaele Pirie of Solarpraxis AG. This company organized the conference in collaboration with Ambiente Italia Srl, a research institute and consultancy in Milan.

The major obstacles that large photovoltaic projects face in Italy are the bureaucratic impediments. Consequently, the two Italian photovoltaic associations made a rather conservative prognosis for 2009: their estimate is=2 0for about 250 new MW installed.

"The segment of photovoltaics in Italy has great potential, but we won´t see the same growth as in Spain," says Francesco Maggi, General Manager of SAEM Alternative Energy SRrL. In his opinion, the development of this market is slowing because of problems connecting to the grid. Most of these problems are due to a lack of coordination within the national electric company, Enel SpA, said Maggi. According to Gremos, chairman of GIFI, the hardest part is financing it. "Today is very difficult to find adequate funding to install photovoltaic on land." Other critics blame the large number of regulations that must be complied with to go ahead with these projects: environmental, landscaping and urban planning. In Italy, acquiring the license for the sale of photovoltaic energy to the grid, involves various administrative Institutions, that, sometimes, interpret these regulations differently. In such cases, the procedures for obtaining the license can cause big delays. According to Fabrizio Bonemazzi, director of product development and technical support at Enel.si Srl, "There are a large number of projects that are frozen".

"It is difficult to establish long-term goals right now," says Valentina De Carlo, a spokesman for Italy Conergy Spa. The price of the modules fell after the spanish market collapse. Italian panels are too expensive to compete in the international market. According to the Institute EUPD the price per kW installed is much higher in Italy than in Germany or Spain. A 3 kW system costs 43% more than in Germany and 12% more than in Spain. The production of silicon could help reduce prices. Silfab Spa has opened a silicon factory in Borgofranco d'Ivrea, in the province of Turin, with an annual capacity of 2,500 tons. Estelux, a subsidiary of the module manufacturer Solon SpA, plans to open one in Ferrera in 2010 with an initial capacity of 4,000 tons per year.