A worldwide assessment of levelised cost of electricity of HCPV systems

Numerous works of exhaustive analysis of the economic assessment of PV systems are available in the literature. However, there is a lack of this kind of studies concerning High Concentrator Photovoltaic (HCPV) technology. In this work, a worldwide economic feasibility analysis of HCPV systems is performed through the LCOE estimation, since it is a commonly method to assess and compare energy generation systems of different technologies. The LCOE of HCPV grid-connected systems is estimated and analysed for 133 countries. The analysis and detection of the optimal zones for HCPV technology is conducted in terms of the LCOE, and in addition, an innovative global map of the LCOE of HCPV is presented. Moreover, the grid parity in the domestic market segment for the year 2014 is analysed and found to be a reality for several developed countries. Finally, a prospective scenario comparing the LCOE of HCPV and conventional PV systems for the year 2020 is analysed and plotted in a global map, in which many countries have found to be preferable for the HCPV technology in terms of the LCOE. As an important result, although the Annual Final Yield, Yf, and LCOE are apparently inversely proportional, when comparing both parameters, Yf and LCOE, on one hand, it is obtained that some countries with relative high Yf values are also of relative high LCOE values (e.g. Iran and Sudan), and, on the other hand, some other countries with relative low Yf values are also of relative low LCOE values (e.g. Canada and France).

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