EGP Green Power is the EGP Group company that develops and manages energy generation from renewable sources at a global level, with a presence in Europe, the Americas and Africa. EGP is a major global operator in the field of energy generation from renewable sources, with an annual production of 29 TW/h meeting the energy consumption of over 10 million families and avoiding 16 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2)/year. EGP has an installed capacity of 9.773 MW (2014), produced by 734 plants in 15 countries and with a generation mix that includes wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and biomass.
The Catania Solar Lab, operating since 2007, is a centre of excellence for the study of solar energy systems. The Laboratory is accredited for PV modules’ Qualification tests according to the International Standards (CEI EN 61215 and CEI EN 61646). The main activities performed in the lab deal with test on commercial and innovative PV modules, development of specific testing techniques for characterization of non-conventional technologies (e.g. heterojunctions, multi-junction thin films) and for measurement of hidden defects, development of physical models to select the suitable technologies for each specific application and to enable advanced diagnostics, development of monitoring, diagnostic and forecasting tools to optimize PV plant operation.
EGP participates to the project together with 3SUN is a manufacturing company operating in the PV segment, fully owned by EGP; highly innovative multiple junction thin-film modules are produced in its innovative plant called “M6” in Catania, Sicily. It is the largest Italian factory and the world’s largest producer of thin-film PV panels in multi-junction amorphous silicon, born in 2010 as a 50-50 Joint Venture of three partners (EGP, Sharp and STMicroelectronics): from March 2015 3SUN is wholly owned by EGP. Two production lines (80×2 MW) are currently in operation, automated with advanced technological processes and assembly. Total production is around 4,000 solar panels a day, for a total yearly production capacity of about 190MW; up to date 5.2 million PV panels have been produced, equivalent to approximately 680 MW.
