Building Integrated Concentrating Photovoltaics: A review

For building integration, Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) systems can offer a host of advantages over conventional flat panel devices, the most notable being: a higher electrical conversion efficiency in the PV cells, better use of space, ease of recycling of constituent materials, and reduced use of toxic products involved in the PV cells' production process. However, the viability of Building-Integrated Concentrating PV (BICPV) systems is dependent on their ability to offer a comparative economic advantage over flat panel photovoltaic technologies whose market prices are decreasing from day to day and which offer other advantages such as ease of replacement of structural elements. A comparative analysis is presented of the main existing CPV systems' suitability for use in buildings, in which the different challenges specific to integration of each system are discussed. The systems are categorized by type of concentration technology and concentration factor. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.