Abstract
Recently, the local government of South Tyrol, a province in the alpine area in the north of Italy, has defined the guidelines for an energy and climate package with targets for 2050 where it is stated that
-The yearly CO2 emission per capita will be reduced to less than 1.5 tons (less than 4 tons per capita by 2020 as intermediate target)
-90% of the energy need will be covered by renewables (at least 75% by 2020 as intermediate target).
Specifically, energy production from photovoltaics will contribute towards those targets with a total installed power of 300 MW by 2020 (around 0.6 kW per capita considering population as of 2012) and 600 MW by 2050 (around 1.2 kW per capita considering population as of 2012). These figures start from a baseline of PV installed power in the province at the end of 2012 of 220 MW (around 0.45 kW per capita, around 0.28 kW per capita in Italy for comparison). Although both targets seem easily within reach, it is nonetheless important to lay the right foundation through favourable legislation and long term planning.
It is within these context that a detailed analysis of the real PV potential (as comprehensive and effectively exploitable) of the area is proposed so to understand how ambitious those targets really are and to provide data and information for future energy and strategy planning. In this work, in an innovative approach, the impact of novel solutions on non-conventional surfaces were also included such as PV installations on transport infrastructure, avalanche barriers, artificial lakes, etc. High altitude installations were also taken into account due to the high irradiance values in the alpine area which are comparable to those in South of Italy (up to 2200 kWh/m2 per year). Limitations due to costs, phasing out of generous incentives programs, restrictive laws (for instance, architectural and environmental constraints) were considered, too.
The different technical aspects will be presented from the use of existing solar cadastres and databases to statistical analysis based on the morphology of different urban contexts. The roof (and façade) potential will then be added to the potential from the above mentioned non-conventional surfaces with the final aim of providing a figure for PV potential that takes into account planning permissions, restrictions, structural limitations, current legislation, visual impact and costs.