Around 80 per cent of the solar power generated by the modules installed at Limonta's facilities is being used by the textile factories themselves, saving the company more than 250,000 Euros in electricity costs each year. The textile factories’ production lines have been designed to enable them to immediately consume the majority of the solar power generated, meaning that no energy storage systems are required.

“Textile factories consume an enormous amount of power, which makes the prospect of being able to produce their own electricity so appealing to owners," said Giuseppe Guida, managing director of the general contractor GM Solar, which constructed Limonta’s photovoltaic installations.

Two rooftop plants with outputs of 720 kilowatts peak and 466 kWp were put into operation on buildings belonging to the Limonta spa in Lombardy, Northern Italy, in 2013. In March 2014, based on the excellent performance of the first two systems, an additional two solar installations with outputs of 499 kWp and 199 kWp, respectively, were installed at the textile group’s sites in Cologno al Serio and Costa Masnaga in the same region.