3Sun is a photovoltaic panel factory established in 2010 in
Catania
Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...
, Italy. In 2015,
Enel Green Power
Enel Green Power S.p.A. is an Italian multinational renewable energy corporation, headquartered in Rome.
The company was formed as a subsidiary of the power generation firm Enel in December 2008. It has operations in five continents generating ...
became the company's sole shareholder.
3Sun was established as a joint venture by Enel Green Power,
Sharp Corporation
is a Japanese electronics company. It is headquartered in Sakai, Osaka, and was founded by Tokuji Hayakawa in 1912 in Honjo, Tokyo, and established as the Hayakawa Metal Works Institute in Abeno-ku, Osaka, in 1924. Since 2016, it is majority o ...
, and
STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics Naamloze vennootschap, NV (commonly referred to as ST or STMicro) is a European multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the largest of such companies in Europe. ...
, each owning 33% of 3Sun.
Between 2011 and 2014, 3Sun built a photovoltaic cell and module plant in Catania that employed thin-layer technology.
Sharp contributes the amorphous silicon multi-junction thin-film technology, Enel Green Power manages the commercial distribution, and STMicroelectronics provides personnel specialized in processes and research and development.
On March 6, 2015, Enel Green Power has been the sole owner of 3Sun.
In August 2018, the manufacturing of
Heterojunction Technology (HJT) bifacial panels began, making 3Sun the world's most automated plant in the sector, with the ability to operate continuously. The first HJT cells were produced in February 2019 and mass production began in August 2019.
In April 2022, Enel Green Power signed a grant agreement with the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
for subsidized financing, as part of the EU's first Innovation Fund call for large-scale projects, contributing to the development of the TANGO (iTaliAN pv Giga factOry) project.
This involves the construction of an industrial-scale production facility for the manufacturing of innovative, sustainable and high-performance photovoltaic (PV) modules at the 3Sun solar panel factory in Catania.
See also
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Renewable energy in the European Union
Renewable energy progress in the European Union (EU) is driven by the European Commission's 2023 revision of the Renewable Energy Directive, which raised the EU's binding renewable energy target for 2030 to at least 42.5%, up from the previous t ...
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Energy policy of the European Union
The energy policy of the European Union focuses on energy security, Sustainable energy, sustainability, and integrating the energy markets of member states. An increasingly important part of it is climate policy. A key energy policy adopted in ...
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Energy in Italy
Energy in Italy comes mostly from fossil fuels. Among the most used resources are petroleum (mostly used for the transport sector), natural gas (used for electric energy production and heating), coal and renewables. Italy has few energy resourc ...
References
External links
*{{Official website, https://www.3sun.com/
Renewable energy companies of Italy
Enel
Energy companies established in 2010
Renewable resource companies established in 2010
Italian companies established in 2010
Companies based in Catania