Our Sicilian offices and laboratories, which are found in the city of Catania, cover 25.000 cubic metres and 10 acres of parkland, and it is the focal point of the business’ solar energy and energy saving programmes. Its strategic position ensures one of the highest irradiation levels in Europe with peaks of 1700 kWh/m2 per year, making it the perfect place for the company’s environmental projects.
PV Solar
The Catania centre is where solar radiation is reproduced, and where a solar dynamic simulator monitors the performance of PV systems. Accelerated ageing tests such as thermal cycling, ultraviolet radiation, salt spray and humidity are carried out using photovoltaic modules in large climatic rooms, in order to evaluate their performance under extreme environmental conditions.
The site is home to a remote monitoring and diagnostics station that oversees all Enel’s PV plants, testing them with the aim of discovering how to generate solar energy at the lowest possible cost. A meteorological and radiometric station was also constructed here, which estimates changes in weather conditions and their impact on PV systems, which rely on temperature and global solar irradiation to produce energy.
Thermodynamic Solar Power
The Catania Centre analyses the performance of the Archimedes project, which is the first attempt to integrate a gas combined cycle plant with a solar thermal power one. A simulator located at Priolo Gargallo runs tests on the process, allowing researchers to simulate weather systems and power loads and assess the technology’s performance.
