Photovoltaic
The peak of photovoltaic solar systems installations on Italian roofs in recent years, shows how strong is the belief that energy's future is in renewable energy and that solar energy in particular has a leading role. The success of this technology is due to an improvement in the efficiency of photovoltaic panels and the gradual reduction of installation cost, due to government incentives.
The main obstacle to the development of such plants on a large scale has always been the very low cost / efficiency ratio: the efficiency of a photovoltaic panel is in fact given by the ratio between electricity produced and the solar energy reflecting on the surface of the module. This value depends on several factors such as the different performance of materials, the degree of solar radiation according to the area, the angle of the solar radiation in respect of the modules, the weather conditions, etc..
Although the incentive has led to a gradual increase in demand and this has encouraged a substantial reduction in costs for PV systems, the efficiency problem remains; this is where the Trinum system reveals its advantages: a cogeneration plant like Trinum has an overall efficiency of solar energy conversion of 55.2%, the value given by the sum of 13.8% of electrical efficiency and 41.4% of thermal efficiency. Thanks to the Stirling engine, the system does not need an inverter to convert solar energy into electricity and heat. Moreover, in order to produce the same quantity of electricity and thermal energy produced with traditional applications, Trinum needs half the area that a traditional solar panel or photovoltaic panel would need.