According to the project developer Futura Group the project in Sardinia is the largest solar plant combining agriculture and photovoltaics to date Aiko has been chosen to supply the modules The developer of photovoltaic projects Futura Group Solar Construction has started the realisation of a huge agri-PV plant in Serramanna The plant is planned to have an output of 48 megawatts making it the largest agri-PV plant in Italy to date It is not yet known when construction of the plant will start and when it will be operational the Futura Group has now signed a supply contract with module manufacturer Aiko for the panels that will be used in the generator Aiko will supply around 73,280 of its Stellar 1N+66 panels for the project explains the decision primarily based on the high output of Aiko's modules which means that covering of the ground and therefore shading can be reduced despite the high desired output of the overall system Don't miss any important information about the solar energy transition in agruculture! Simply subscribe to our free newsletter. the project is a decisive step towards entering the agri-PV segment in Italy responsible for Aiko's large-scale plant business in Southern- and South-Eastern Europe „We are honoured to be working with the Futura Group on this milestone project,“ he emphasises The agri-PV segment in Italy is particularly important for project planners and component suppliers solar systems may only be installed on arable land and grassland in Italy if agricultural use remains possible Our new special for the dual harvest on farms is now online Farmers opt for photovoltaics to cover their own demand KEY Rimini 2025: Focus on renewable opportunity for the Mediterranean region With the subscription to this newsletter, I agree to be informed about interesting publishing and online offers of Alfons W. Gentner Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. I can revoke this agreement and unsubscribe at any time. 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A podcast for investors on the opportunities and risks of the solar market The pv Europe editorial team offers their own analysis and discusses current topics with experts Simply sign up to the Life & Arts myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox Across the island of Sardinia there are more than 7,000 ancient towers built with large blocks of local stone Little is known about the nuraghi or their Bronze Age architects but almost every Sardinian I met had a theory about their purpose Some told me that they were forts; others that they were residences “The amazing thing is that from every single nuraghe you see another nuraghe,” Carlo Mancosu “Now imagine a system of communication with flames or light or mirrors I think there existed a people in a network.” that inspired Mancosu and a group of childhood friends to found Sardinia’s first local currency: Sardex Arts and humanities graduates with little financial experience they built it from scratch in their home town of Serramanna as the island reeled from the financial crisis Their hope was that the project would give them a job in the place where they had grown up But six years later it has turned into a symbol of local action spreading to create a new network of thousands of businesses they have traded nearly €31.3m in Sardex this year Serramanna sits just within the agricultural region of Medio Campidano its piazza was full of old men drinking their coffee under the shade of Canary palms Only the occasional roar of a jet engine from the nearby Nato base broke the silence I met four of the currency’s five founders in their office On the wall was a sign in Sardinian and Italian: “Don’t complain.” Giuseppe Littera told me that it was intended for his grandmother “I love my grandmother [but] she’s still complaining about the Nato base because they took 10 plants from the best olive field their family had.” the founders all grew up together in Serramanna “I have traced my ancestry back 500 years,” Giuseppe told me proudly fiercely debating local politics and the financial crisis whose financial experience initially set him apart from the others “Youth unemployment is at 50 per cent,” Giuseppe said Anyone with minimal linguistic abilities escapes to London or Berlin.” planners in Rome decided that the future of Sardinia — an island of miners shepherds and farmers — lay in industrial production factories and refineries were built as part of the state-led Piano di rinascita (Plan for Rebirth) When I asked Sardex’s founders about the town’s problems they would often repeat the phrase with a tinge of sarcasm “and they call it plan for rebirth.” The island’s nascent petrochemical industry knocked off course by the 1973 Opec price rise proved unable to compete in the international market an emergency in these industries,” said Stefano Usai another wave hit the island: the financial crisis banks stopped lending anything really,” Giuseppe told me “People stopped going to ask for a loan.” Unable to secure credit “In Serramanna we have a suicide problem.” was a contradiction: its causes remained distant but its effects were local “What does the economic system of Sardinia have to do with the mismanagement of Wall Street or London?” he said The island’s companies still had the potential to produce goods and services; stock was sitting in warehouses and people were able to work then perhaps there was a financial solution “but to let companies create their own money.” social reformers and eccentrics have tried to introduce local currencies Their creations have taken an array of different forms and ranged from the ingenious to the absurd Many have been shortlived — but others have outlasted the conditions that brought them into existence Among the most successful is the Swiss WIR which first appeared during the Great Depression a network of Swiss businesses decided to build a system of mutual credit allowing them to trade without relying wholly on the Swiss franc especially during periods of economic downturn Although it has changed significantly since its inception the WIR is still going strong and has about 45,000 members “For his different purposes,” wrote the British economist EF Schumacher some exclusive and some comprehensive.” For some local currencies are a financial response to this human need and one that has a strong precedent through history “The permanent feature of monetary systems in Europe throughout the period from Charlemagne to Napoleon — for a good millennium — [is] a distinction between different moneys for different purposes,” says Luca Fantacci an economist and historian at Bocconi University in Milan unlikely idea while Giuseppe was a student in Leeds and became obsessed by the possibility of bringing something similar to Serramanna “When I went to England and I was still studying I was kind of trying very hard to find meaning in life And when I discovered the WIR thing — that was like The other option is: let’s wait for systemic worldwide change.” He discussed the idea over Skype with Mancosu and they began designing a new local electronic currency whose name And so the group of arts students planned a new currency for their island It seemed absurd: they had little financial or IT experience [We can do this] without inconveniencing Brussels drawing on studies of ancient credit systems the Swiss WIR and John Maynard Keynes’s proposal for an International Clearing Union at Bretton Woods a version of which was implemented as the European Payments Union (1950-58) There was logic in this approach; for if the financial crisis proved anything it was that the history of finance is not linear “There’s no reason to think that financial markets are more progressive than the financial institutions of the Renaissance,” says Massimo Amato While Sardex’s founders borrowed from history Paolo Dini of the London School of Economics writes that “Sardex has institutional characteristics that make it almost unique among the thousands of examples of CCs [complementary currencies] that have existed throughout human history and that still exist in almost every country in the world.” you have to abandon much of what you may think you know about money There is no bank that prints Sardex notes; no algorithm that generates Sardex digital coins it functions as a system of mutual credit: each firm begins at zero earning the digital currency — equivalent to but non-exchangeable with the euro — as it offers goods or services to others in the network Companies may go into debt but only up to a certain limit determined by what they can offer the other participating firms there is no interest on Sardex; it functions purely as a means of exchange “[In the circuit] you have a debtor who does not see their debt increase but finds creditors who want to spend,” Gabriele told me “This should be a natural part of the market.” I found it easiest to think of it as a simple portrait of human relationships money [here] is a system of rights and duties From the moment that I take from a community — as is the case in Sardex — I am in debt towards that community; when I settle that debt with the community The root of the word finance is the Latin finis Sardex’s simplicity reflects finance’s etymology and its true purpose: it allows a creditor and debtor to come together Nothing could be further from the unsustainable repackaged debt which resulted in the collapse of the banking system in 2008 “[Sardex] is money that serves an end,” Giuseppe told me “And once that end has been reached — it has done its work.” At the heart of Sardex are its administrators they carefully track member firms’ transactions occasionally nudging the network to ensure its stability resemble those central bankers from whom they had sought to distance themselves It proved easier to design Sardex’s system than persuade firms to adopt it After registering the company in Serramanna in July 2009 the founders began to approach local businesses with their idea they must have presented a curious sight: not one typically associated with financial professionals Hundreds of firms in Sardinia rejected their proposals; after all not an invented currency overseen by a group of idealists “They looked at us if we were from outer space.” the founders had a breakthrough: a local businessman believing he was joining an established network “We explained it to him,” recalled Mancosu ● Sardex is an electronic system of mutual credit for Sardinian companies a firm must have spare goods or services to offer to participating firms and be willing to make purchases within the network using Sardex earning the electronic currency as they transact with other members ● Firms can go into Sardex debt but only up to a limit set by the administrators ● Transactions of less than €1,000 must be carried out in Sardex Larger transactions can use Sardex with euros ● All transactions are tracked via a centralised system in Serramanna ● Members are charged an annual fee according to size dentists and restaurants all began to enter the network companies found that they could dispose of unused stock; cash-strapped firms could buy goods and services that they couldn’t otherwise afford their connection with the local area to persuade businesses to join “Human relations have always been at the heart of our project,” Gabriele told me “It has never been possible to sign up to the circuit via the internet.” Sardex had a total of 237 members and a modest transaction volume of just over €300,000 Initially the team relied on their families for support later charging companies a small membership fee based on their size a retired law academic named Giacinto Auriti introduced his own paper money a town in central Italy about the size of Serramanna Auriti paid a local printer to produce the currency distributing it to locals from his own palazzo in exchange for lire the Simec was not just a local initiative but a front in his long-running campaign against central banks and their monopoly on money production “Between me and the central banks there is a mortal struggle,” he told The New York Times in 2001 Sardex’s founders have always viewed their currency as complementary to the financial system; they are not waging war against the Bank of Italy State-issued money remains central to Sardex: firms in its network may combine euros and Sardex when making payments; taxes on Sardex transactions must be paid in euros; and the value of Sardex itself is tied to the euro “We developed the network to be politically agnostic,” Giuseppe told me “We talk to everybody: we don’t give a shit if you are from the left Auriti did not win his struggle against the Bank of Italy Today around 2,900 businesses are using it including some of Sardinia’s most established organisations: Tiscali Stripped of money’s function as a store of wealth Sardex has circulated quickly; according to the founders’ figures it has facilitated more than €30m of transactions this year and about €84m since it started 2011: venture capital firm dPixel agrees investment €84m credit transactions facilitated since 2010 one credit circulates 12 times in a year,” Gabriele said “No one keeps their [Sardex] credits stuck in their wallet.” The prize for Sardex is now Sardinia’s biggest employer: the state The team is currently proposing a scheme whereby the island’s regional government could join the network is an economist who seems to represent the opposite of these young arts graduates who were so distrustful of mainstream economic thinking “If we live in an ideal world then we do not need Sardex,” he told me But he recognised that in this imperfect world the currency had a role to play it’s a good experience that is helping a lot.” the network must be pushed and pulled to maintain its stability placing great responsibility and influence in the hands of its administrators Sardex allows companies to go into unsecured debt exposing the network to the risk that a member may rack up a negative balance and walk away and the team now has several claims lodged in Italy’s notoriously slow court system “It is our last-resort scenario,” he told me I took a walk around Serramanna to speak with local businesses The owner of a local store showed me her online Sardex account indicating her balance and all the firms with whom she could potentially transact She had sold lingerie to companies in the network “It makes the money circulate here [and] doesn’t allow it to leave the island The model has already spread in Italy and there are reportedly trials under way to create local currencies in Veneto Last year Giuseppe travelled to Greece to share his knowledge with local currency organisers Yet his advice to them was less about financial models credit systems and software than relationships and trust and try to build communities where there are none,” he told them “[In Sardinia] the social fabric was destroyed