Photovoltaic concentration at the onset of its commercial deployment

An overview of the field of photovoltaic concentration is provided taking into account that we think we are at the onset of its real commercialization. This belief is justified in this paper. It first contains a description of the different elements in a concentrator, stressing the challenges associated with each element, and then we describe briefly the different concentrators that we think are currently in a real pre-commercial stage. Finally, we discuss a number of issues associated to the deployment of the field including cost, experience, and market tendencies. This paper goes on to summarize the Conclusions. Copyright (C) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.