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 MW this year to 1,043.96 MW by 2020, says a new report from U.K.-based research and consulting firm GlobalData.
According to the report, China and the U.S. dominated the global CPV market in 2013, with their cumulative installed capacity reaching shares of 35.4% and 33.3%, respectively. Spain stood third with 12.2%, followed by Portugal and Italy, with shares of 5.1% and 4.3%, respectively.
Two CPV power plants came online in 2012 and 2013: Amonix's 30 MW Alamosa facility in Colorado and Suncore's 50 MW CPV plant in Golmud, China – reportedly the largest CPV plant in the world.
‘The CPV market is at a nascent stage, especially with the technology evolving and achieving new heights of efficiency improvement,’ says Swati Singh, GlobalData's alternative energy analyst. ‘Companies that have been successful in operating CPV prototype systems in pilot sites are now progressing towards multi-megawatt CPV projects.’
However, despite these developments, GlobalData says its market growth forecast is cautious. From 2009, many companies in the CPV industry – both small and large -Â either had to close down their businesses due to bankruptcy or were acquired by other companies.
‘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,’ Singh says.
