Modern CPV equipment consists of a metal pedestal cemented into the ground onto which a large metal frame is mounted on pivoting supports thus enabling it to move on an x-y axis with the help of a gear-drive assembly. Many CPV modules, mounted on the frame, contain a dozen or more highly efficient multi-junction interconnected CPV cells, covered by a Fresnel lens. The modules with the solar cells inside, are kept always at 900 orientation to the sun, via the x-y gear-drives. Sunlight hitting the large opening of the Fresnel lens is focused (concentrated 100-1000 times) onto the 1.0 cm2 CPV cells, which generate DC electricity to be sent into the grid.
CPV isn’t catching on in mainstream due to a combination of factors including: materials inefficiency and incompatibility; manufacturing process issues; lack of reliable long term field test data; lack of experience and idea sharing forums; lack of technical understanding by the potential customers--all of which leads to lack of interest by the investment community and the utilities.
The advantages of CPV, as compared to conventional PV technologies (silicon and thin films PV modules), are many:
Table 1. Comparing CPV and PV technologies.
Table 1 shows the key advantages of the CPV technology, where: greater efficiency, longer daily power generation at near-nameplate capacity, temperature handling superiority, better land use, long term reliability, and the ability to use local materials and labor are the key and very important advantages.
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