Reuters offered an interesting perspective on concentrated solar PV, and posits that perhaps it is the future of the solar industry. This is a counterpoint to the generally accepted wisdom that the crashing prices of regular solar PV modules will provide the way forward.
There are no rose-colored glasses in the piece. Concentrated solar PV has the disadvantage of being best-suited for primarily sunny climes, the falling prices of PV modules and the skittishness of banks to fund these kinds of projects.
On the other hand, experts in the article claim that CPV is better positioned than traditional PV modules to survive without subsidies. The article also states that the overall installed cost of CPV will eventually be lower as well.
Though all of the focus has been on plummeting PV module prices, this CPV technology bears more scrutiny (which is why we will be focusing on it in the Project Review section of our February issue). I’ll be interested to learn more about it myself.
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