Countdown to SSEC: Vicenza, Italy's solar power hub

Vicenza – The countdown has begun for SSEC – Storage & Solar Expo Conference, the new B2B event organized by IEG – Italian Exhibition Group in collaboration with Meneghini&Associati and with the support of Italia Solare, which on September 22 and 23 will transform the Vicenza Exhibition Center into a meeting point for the photovoltaic and energy storage systems industry.

With seven conferences scheduled, featuring 50 speakers, a diverse panel of companies showcasing their innovations and solutions, and several trade associations supporting the event, as well as the participation of national and local institutions, scientific partners, and industry players, SSEC is preparing for its debut with a format designed to foster discussion among all stakeholders in the energy transition and offer concrete tools to address the challenges facing the market in the coming years.

"SSEC – Storage & Solar Expo Conference," explains Corrado Peraboni, CEO of IEG-Italian Exhibition Group, "represents a further step in IEG's strategy to continue investing in supply chains with high development potential. We have designed a vertical event born from listening to the market and building on the experience gained with KEY – The Energy Transition Expo, with the goal of creating a qualified meeting place where innovation, content, and relationships can translate into new business opportunities. We are convinced that the strength of a trade show lies in its ability to build connections between people, businesses, and regions, supporting the growth of an increasingly strategic sector for the competitiveness of the manufacturing system."

Conceived and developed around three closely integrated elements—expo, conference, and networking—and designed to interpret market evolution not only from a technological, but also industrial, regulatory, and economic perspective. The goal is to provide operators with concrete tools to interpret ongoing transformations and identify new development opportunities. SSEC was born from a process of listening to the entrepreneurial fabric of the Northeast and the needs expressed by businesses, operators, trade associations, and stakeholders in the supply chain.

"For a manufacturing region like ours, energy has become a crucial component of industrial competitiveness," says Barbara Beltrame, President of Confindustria Vicenza. "Reducing costs, increasing energy autonomy, and accelerating investments in renewables and energy storage systems are priorities that can no longer be postponed. This is why it is crucial to foster ever closer dialogue between energy supply chain stakeholders and manufacturing companies, because today, energy decisions directly impact industrial strategies and the regions' capacity for development. Vicenza is the natural place for this dialogue: here, industry plays a key role, and energy security, innovation, and competitiveness are now part of the same challenge."

The choice of Vicenza as the SSEC location, therefore, responds to the desire to bring the discussion on the future of storage and solar to the heart of an area with a high industrial density and strong manufacturing vocation, where innovation, competitiveness, and energy efficiency represent increasingly central themes for entrepreneurial development.

SSEC finds particularly fertile ground in Vicenza, because it is connected to a business system that understands the value of energy as a competitive factor. Vicenza's companies, especially manufacturing ones, don't need slogans about the energy transition: they need technologies, solutions, and tools to produce better, consume more efficiently, and address one of the most sensitive industrial costs with greater autonomy.

This is why I consider the creation of SSEC so important: bringing the Solar & Storage sector to Vicenza means creating a concrete meeting point between those developing these technologies and those who can use them to strengthen their competitiveness,” says Massimo Bitonci, Councilor for Economic Development of the Veneto Region. “It is a synergy between two areas of excellence: the technological excellence that is growing in the energy sector and the manufacturing excellence that has always distinguished Vicenza and the Veneto region. In this sense, the event can also become an opportunity to highlight the many experiences that already exist in the area and foster new collaborations between businesses and the research community.”

"The choice of Vicenza for a highly specialized event like SSEC – Storage & Solar Expo Conference confirms our city's vocation as a meeting and discussion hub for the manufacturing world and as a region capable of attracting initiatives related to innovation and competitiveness," emphasized Vicenza Mayor Giacomo Possamai. "SSEC can help build relationships, foster the exchange of expertise, and bring together supply and demand in a sector destined to play an increasingly important role in economic development, as well as strengthening our city's position as a host to important trade fairs and professional events."

Echoing the mayor's sentiments, Vicenza's Councilor for the Environment and Energy Policies, Sara Baldinato, said: "The energy transition is not just an environmental necessity, but increasingly also a matter of innovation, competitiveness, and forward-looking thinking. It is entering a phase in which major strategies must be matched by concrete solutions, reliable technologies, and application capabilities. Therefore, it is particularly significant that Vicenza is hosting the first edition of SSEC – Storage & Solar Expo Conference.

The presence of qualified industry professionals, along with opportunities for in-depth discussion, represents a particularly valuable opportunity for discussion in a region with a strong manufacturing vocation like ours. As a municipal administration that has long been committed to environmental and energy sustainability through policies, projects, and local interventions, we are particularly interested in initiatives like SSEC, which contribute to strengthening the dialogue between institutions, businesses, and the world of innovation.

Vittoria Muraro, CEO of Meneghini&Associati, also emphasized the value of a project born from listening to the market and developed alongside IEG – Italian Exhibition Group: "Meneghini&Associati supported IEG's project with great interest and determination, responding to real needs in a city that is its natural home due to its industrial vocation, capacity for innovation, and geographic centrality. The response we've received in recent months confirms that there is room for an event with these characteristics and allows us to look forward to its September debut with confidence."

The exhibition area will bring together some of the industry's leading companies, with a focus on photovoltaic technologies, storage systems, intelligent energy management, and services for businesses and professionals. This highly specialized environment will be a place where manufacturers, distributors, EPC contractors, designers, utilities, energy managers, investors, and large energy users can develop business relationships, share expertise, and discuss the latest market developments.

The expo will be accompanied by a conference program developed with the contribution of associations, businesses, and industry experts, to explore some of the most relevant issues for the sector today. Among these is the cost of energy and its impact on business competitiveness, an issue particularly sensitive to the local manufacturing sector: "Energy is a cost that has significant repercussions for businesses; therefore, it is increasingly important to make small businesses in Vicenza less dependent on traditional electricity supplies. Confartigianato, the Italian Confederation of Crafts, has been pursuing this path for several years now, encouraging self-production and self-consumption.

A-CERTA, the energy community promoted by Confartigianato Vicenza, was established in 2024. It operates throughout the province and 22 other Italian provinces and also works towards economic and social sustainability. At the same time, efforts are continuing towards institutions, because it is unacceptable that a region rich in excellent products like Vicenza's risk being held back by unsustainable bills. Initiatives like SSEC, therefore, represent an important opportunity for discussion and dialogue on a key issue in the coming years: energy supply," says Gianluca Cavion, President of Confartigianato Imprese Vicenza.

The conference will open on September 22nd with SolarBuilding, a presentation by Italia Solare, dedicated to the role of photovoltaics and self-consumption in the energy retrofitting of buildings. "Photovoltaics is entering a new phase: it's no longer just about installing new systems, but about understanding how to integrate generation, storage, and consumption into a rapidly changing electricity system that will need to be increasingly flexible. For companies, this means rethinking the way they purchase, produce, and manage energy, transforming it from a simple cost item to an integral part of their industrial strategy.

For families and businesses, these offer new opportunities to reduce energy bills and adopt a different energy consumption model. SSEC is born at a particularly interesting time, precisely because it brings together different technologies, operators, and skills across the supply chain. "This is the kind of collaboration that the market needs today," says Paolo Rocco Viscontini, President of Italia Solare. The discussion promoted by Legambiente will follow, focusing on agrivoltaics as a model capable of integrating agricultural production and renewable energy.

On September 23rd, ANIE will present an in-depth look at new regulatory scenarios for storage, while Elemens will analyze strategies for transforming energy costs into a competitive lever for businesses. In the afternoon, AGICI will present the Renewables 2026 Study, focusing on the role of flexibility in the development of renewable energy sources, while Prospecta Formazione will explore the relationship between construction, industry, and energy, awarding Professional Training Credits.

Alongside the technical content and exhibition space, special attention will be paid to networking opportunities, designed to foster connections between businesses, institutions, associations, investors, and professionals, helping to create new opportunities for collaboration and development along the entire supply chain.

The first edition of SSEC – Storage & Solar Expo Conference marks the launch of a new event destined to become a permanent fixture in the trade fair calendar dedicated to the energy transition, strengthening the synergy with KEY – The Energy Transition Expo and offering the solar and storage industry a second annual opportunity for discussion, professional development, and business development.

SSEC – Storage & Solar Expo Conference is an event sponsored by: Municipality of Vicenza, Confindustria Vicenza, Confartigianato Vicenza, Vicenza Chamber of Commerce, Confindustria Alto Adriatico.