14 DAY TRIAL // A new report put together by specialists working with GlobalData says that, in the years to come, the world is to grow surprisingly fond of concentrated photovoltaic technology.
Specifically, the report in question says that, by the end of the year 2020, the global concentrated photovoltaic cumulative installed capacity will sit at 1,044 megawatts.
To put things into perspective, it must be said that, by the end of 2014, the same capacity is expected to reach a value of just 357.9 megawatts.
“The global Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) market is expected to undergo a major growth spurt in the next five years, with its cumulative installed capacity forecast to jump from 357.9 Megawatts (MW) in 2014 to 1,043.96 MW by 2020,” Global Data writes on its website.
For those unaware, concentrated photovoltaic technology boils down to using lenses, curved mirrors and the like to direct and focus sunlight onto a fairly small area made up of solar photovoltaic cells.
Due to the fact that a smaller area of photovoltaic material is required in order to obtain a given amount of electricity, it is said that such systems can help save money on the cost of solar cells.
However, the technology requires investments in lenses and mirrors, sometimes even solar trackers and cooling systems. Hence, for the time being at least, it is not as popular as non-concentrated photovoltaics.
Still, GlobalData says that, according to information at hand, the United States and China were the world's leaders in terms of concentrated photovoltaic installations in 2013.
More precisely, it would appear that the United States and China achieved cumulative installed capacity shares of 35.4% and 33.3%, respectively, in said year.
Spain, Portugal, and Italy, on the other hand, were documented to hold shares of 12.2%, 5.1%, and 4.3%, respectively, the company's report details.
Specialists with GlobalData also say that, all things considered, the global market for concentrated photovoltaic technology had high chances to develop by nearly 200% its current value over the next five years.
They also expect that, as this clean form of energy generation gains popularity, the technology behind it will grow to become more reliable.
As Swati Singh put it, “The CPV [concentrated solar photovoltaic] market is at a nascent stage, especially with the technology evolving and achieving new heights of efficiency improvement,” Swati Singh, an analyst working with GlobalData, said in a statement.
“A further concern in the CPV industry is the reliability and performance of the systems, although significant efforts have been made to develop International Electrotechnical Commission standards for CPV-system certification,” the specialist went on to argue.