Greece Opens The Largest Solar Farm With Double-Sided Panels In Europe

The Hellenic Republic has officially launched the largest bifacial solar farm in Europe.

Costing €130 million (US$141.7 million), the project—which features a staggering 500,000 bifacial panels—will generate an estimated 350 GWh of electricity, powering up to 75,000 homes per year. 

As their name suggests, bifacial—otherwise known as double-sided—solar panels work by absorbing light on both sides. This allows them to produce up to a third more energy than singular-facing panels, Electrek reports.

Kozani solar farm was developed by German renewables subsidiary Juwi Hellas, which then sold it to Hellenic Petroleum, Greece’s foremost oil refiner, with plans to produce 1 GW of clean energy by 2026.

Reuters notes that the country surpassed its 2020 goal by using renewable sources for 21.7% of its energy consumption, and it hopes to increase this to 35% by the end of the decade.

To aid this charge, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has revealed that the government will fast-track licensing procedures to speed up the construction of large-scale offshore wind parks.

He says the project was a reflection of the nation’s goals to harvest “cheap and clean energy” from the sun, wind, water, and other renewable sources. 

[via Electrek and Reuters, cover image via Maurodp75 | Dreamstime.com]