Advanced concepts in concentrating photovoltaics (CPV)

In this paper an overview on the history and actual status of the CPV market is given. Since the introduction of multi-junction solar cells to terrestrial concentrator systems, the installed capacity of high concentration systems has strongly increased. Today, commercial CPV power plants produce electricity cost competitive compared to other solar technologies. To verify the system design and prove reliability, the certification IEC 62108 was introduced and today several modules have successfully completed the test sequence and received the certificate. Beside the widely used point focus systems there are different system approaches with the potential to increase the efficiency and solar concentration. At Fraunhofer ISE the CPV tower and the CPV and thermal (CPVT) system approaches are investigated. Using the thermal energy in addition to the electrical energy, test receivers showed that 75 % of the solar energy can be utilized.