In our country repowering and revamping of PV systems have reached more remarkable volumes than in the past, there are more than 18.5 GW of PV systems that will be at least 10 years old in 2024. Of these, more than 22%, or more than 4 GW, have a capacity of at least 1 MW. These are basically ground-mounted plants that have now arrived or have already passed the 20-year mark of incentives from the Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (Gse); there were five Energy Accounts between 2005 and 2013.

In most cases of revamping and repowering of ground facilities, the choice is to replace the traditional modules equipped with backsheets, thus single-sided, with double-sided panels and to replace the old fixed supports with single-axis, so-called “tracker” support systems.

So revamping, repowering or both? The power of the modules installed a decade ago was about half that of today’s modules. This means that today you can install the same power as 10 years ago in more or less half the space.

Choosing between repowering and revamping, however, is not so much a matter of space, but more a matter of time, that is, how long the system owner is willing to wait for the connection of more input power if the grid is not immediately capable of absorbing it. Some producers are willing to wait as long as two years to get the connection solutions needed to repower a grounded plant. Others, however, prefer to just revamp for the same power and finish the work in a much shorter time by taking advantage of existing connection points. However, one solution does not necessarily exclude the other.