There's a big shadow hanging over the future of the photovoltaic (PV) greenhouses. According to Mario Cardelli, owner of the company ArtigianFer Srl, the further decrease of the subsidiary tariffs on PV-energy by the Italian government could be fatal for the industry. "Compared to five years ago, the tariffs have been cut by 70 percent last year. And we are not sure what the future will bring us."Regarding to PV-greenhouses, with a market share of 70 percent in Italy, ArtigianFer is one of the leading companys in Europe. "80 percent of the PV-greenhouses that have been built in the last 5 years are based in Italy", Mario said. "Most of these have been realized by ArtigianFer. Of course, some PV-greenhouses being build outside of Italy in countries like France , Germany and Greece, in most of these bigger projects ArtigianFer has been involved as well. So you can say that we are one of the bigger players when it comes down to PV-greenhouses"
"We started with developing the first PV-greenhouses back in 2008 in Italy", said Mario Cardelli. "By origin we are a greenhouse builder ourselves for over 30 years. We design and manufacture many different greenhouse structures, from poly to venlo type. In 2007 the Italian government started of with an attractive energy account subsidy on solar energy, hence we became interested in creating greenhouses with PV-modules on the roofs which resulted in the first prototypes in Central and Southern parts of Italy."
With over 100 hectares in the following years, ArtigianFer's business in PV-greenhouses was booming. "We did numerous of projects in the years 2009, 2010 and 2011 with just glass PV-greenhouses (S.T.O Solar) with 50 percent PV modules and 50 percent glass on the roof. In that period the growers were able to spend more money on the greenhouse, as a result of the gentle subsidies provided by the Italian government.
S.T.O. Solar : Venlo style greenhouse with PV-modules
Unfortunately, in 2011/12, the Italian government decided to cut the tariffs with more than the half, in order to lower the subsidiary costs. Therefore we decided to design a cheaper greenhouse structure made of polyethylene and PV-modules on the roof (TERMOLUX Solar). The costs of this type of greenhouse is much lower then the glass type, wich created a gateway for the growers to obtain the change to use PV-modules in horticulture."
Termolux Solar: Poly greenhouse with PV modules
As it is not sure what the future will bring regarding energy account subisies, ArtigianFer is looking forward to discovering other export markets for PV-greenhouses. "In this moment we have not carried out much projects abroad. We did some big projects in France, for example in Tolouse and Cassairgues (nearby Marseille), with a strawberry and tomato growers, but compared to Italy, the climate is quite different so we are awaiting the overall results of the crop's behaviour and yield. The first results are very promising. So that gives us hope on exploiting the possibilities of PV in horticulture outside of Italy. Who knows what the future will bring us."
For more information:ArtigianFer Srl.
Mario Cardelli
Via Francesca Vecchia, 23
51010 S. Lucia Uzzanese - Pistoia
Tel: +39-(0)572-451197
Fax:+39-(0)572-453444
E-mail : ma.cardelli@artigianfer.com
www.artigianfer.com