Bifacial solar panels: on the rise in factories, on the decline in homes

ROME

In Italia, the number of photovoltaic systems in factories and shopping centres is on the rise, but the number of solar panel installations on homes is falling. Lombardy leads the way in terms of installed capacity, followed by Sicily and Veneto. This is according to research by Italia Solare, which analysed data from Terna as at 30 June (see also *Il Sole 24 Ore* of 15 July). This goes some way towards confirming the lag also highlighted by Eurostat, which had pointed out that the highest percentages of people living in more energy-efficient homes by the end of 2025 would be found in the Netherlands (60.5%), Denmark (34 per cent), France and Slovenia (both at 33.3 per cent), whilst the lowest would be in Italia (2.6 per cent), Malta (7.8 per cent) and Greece (9.5 per cent).Returning to the data from Italia Solare, by mid-2026, 2,255,654 photovoltaic systems were connected across the peninsula, with a total capacity of 46,606 megawatts. In the first six months of the year, 3,093 MW of new capacity was connected, comprising a total of 89,173 new installations. A comparison with the first half of 2025 shows that the increase in the residential sector fell from 725 to 556 megawatts (-23 per cent). Meanwhile, the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector increased from 946 to 1,154 MW (+22%), whilst utility-scale installations (power stations) rose from 1,137 to 1,383 MW, an increase of 22 per cent. The photovoltaic market appears to be increasingly concentrated in medium- and large-scale installations. “However,” warns Italia Solare, “the decline in installations for households must not be underestimated.” In the first half of the year, Lombardy led the way in terms of new photovoltaic capacity connected to the grid, with 470 MW, followed by Sicily (469), Veneto (306), Emilia-Romagna (305), Piedmont (286), Apulia (218) and Lazio (215 MW). It also leads in terms of new installations, with 13,820 connections, followed by Veneto with 11,233, Emilia-Romagna with 8,039 and Sicily with 7,146. Electrochemical storage systems are also growing in Italia – that is, batteries that store energy from renewables during peak periods and release it during off-peak periods: by mid-2026, these storage systems had reached a cumulative capacity of 19,334 MWh, a power output of 7,983 MW and a total of 943,797 installations. In fact, 1,350 MWh of new capacity was connected to the grid, of which 914 MWh was associated with grid-connected photovoltaic systems and 436 MWh with ‘stand-alone’ systems, i.e. autonomous systems not connected to the grid.