High Concentrator PhotoVoltaics efficiencies: Present status and forecast

Photovoltaic devices are in a mature technological stage with a long and wide field experience; but if this source of energy wants to compete against other renewable energy sources or even to get into the traditional energy generation system, it is necessary a novel scientific progress in the behavior of these photovoltaic systems. In this challenge is where High Concentrator Photovoltaic technology can have a main role, as it has proved, in the last researches published, to have the potential to achieve high levels of energy conversion performance. In this paper, it is described a brief summary of the CPV state of the art, as well as it is forecast some efficiencies values up to 2015, where a CPV module could reach 40% of efficiency, while the global CPV system could achieve approximately a 32%. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.