The center was formed as the Center for Photovoltaic Research (Centro di Ricerche Fotovoltaiche or CRIF), where ENEA's energy department had dediced to concentrate its research and development activities into photovoltaic devices based on alternative materials to crystaline silica and on innovative systems and applications. The skills and equipment that was built up gave the center a pre-eminent position in the field of thin-film research and technology. Today, the research center focuses its attention on a wider range of applications than thin-film semiconductors (sensoristic applications,TFT, opto-electronics). The loss of its focus on photovoltaics (although this is still maintained to a large extent in current research) has been compensated recently by starting research activities on environmental topics. Research and evaluation activities are being developed and initiated at the Portici center above all in support of the actions of environmental planning and remediation in southern Italy, including in marine and river environments. This includes work on behalf of state, regional and local administrations.

Region	Campania
Population of Region	5,811,390
Province	Napoli
Population of province	1,004,500
Airport	Napoli-Capodichino
Train Station	Stazione ferroviaria di Portici-Ercolano
University	Universitò di Napoli Federico II