Elsevier

Renewable Energy Focus

Volume 14, Issue 4, July–August 2013, Pages 12-13
Renewable Energy Focus

Focus: Market
Policy • Legislation • Market analysis
CPV: Expansion and bankability required

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1755-0084(13)70064-4Get rights and content

AS THE CPV sector comes to grips with a slowdown in the US and Europe, it sees the expediency required to get pilot systems on the ground in markets such as Saudi Arabia, South Africa and China.

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Emergence of new markets

Another unique opportunity is currently provided by the emergence of markets in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, where CPV could not only benefit from high direct solar irradiation, but also from the potential to localise manufacturing.

“In any case, it will definitely continue to be a tough battle for the CPV industry, with many companies yet to go out of business. Among all players, we are looking with particular interest at what Soitec is doing, which has many large-scale projects in

Field experience to boost bankability

While expansion can be owing to several positive attributes, the CPV sector should look at proving its promise on an ongoing basis.

Field experience is one of the most important factors to ensure high-levels of adoption and expansion of the CPV market. Successful data showing consistent and long-term performance track record from Amonix's large Cogentrix deployment and others including Suncore and Soitec will demonstrate the ruggedness and reliability of CPV while providing comfort and

US slowdown

Other than Spain, where current sentiments are expectedly bearish, the US market is going slow due to the financial markets' conservatism due to lack of clarity on the worldwide macroeconomic situation. Other countries and regions, such as China and MENA (Saudi Arabia) are leading adoption of the technology and will be the short-term leaders.

The major hurdle, no different than other new PV technologies, is securing both funding and project finance from lenders. Due to the current macroeconomic

Combatting risk

Dobrott points out that the entire CPV value chain is riddled with chicken-and-egg situations. The perceived risk of a new technology gets increased by the financial weakness of most system manufacturers, with operators legitimately worrying about warranties and maintenance contracts. Most of the component suppliers like cell manufacturers do not have lot of visibility into the future and hence cannot work on capacity expansions required to reach economies of scale and push cost down, he says.

About: Ritesh Gupta works for PV Insider

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About: Ritesh Gupta works for PV Insider

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