Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) for Rooftop—Compact System Approach

The single-junction-based conventional PV panels are dominating almost the entire photovoltaic market. In addition, they can only offer a limited solar conversion efficiency due to limitations of the band gap of their single pn-junction. On the other hand, third-generation multi-junction solar cell offers the highest solar energy conversion efficiency as their multiple pn-junctions can absorb a larger portion of solar spectrum. Despite such high potential, their share in current photovoltaic market is still negligible, even though, they have been used in form of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) systems to reduce the use of expensive solar cell material. The main reason for such low market share is due to the gigantic design of commercial PV system which is only suitable to install in the open desert regions, thereby limiting its customers and application scope. In this chapter, a compact CPV system design is discussed with the motivation for its rooftop application and installation. Moreover, the long-term performance of CPV is also compared with conventional PV system in tropical conditions to highlight its potential in low solar energy areas.