A Small Sun in an Etui: Possibilities in HCPV-

This paper discusses on possibilities of HCPV, including (1) cost (2) reliability (3) performance and (4) applications. The reduction of the cost is achieved by the reduction of the material itself. The material is not special. HCPV does not covered by special materials including pure Si, TCO, Ru-based dye, or Pt electrode or other materials using CVD or other vacuum process. HCPV modules are made without special tools. Local assembly is also possible. The weight of the 300 W HCPV module is 22 kg corresponding 0.07 kg/W. It is about 70% of the MC-Si flat-plate modules and less than half of the high efficiency tandem thin film modules. The recent 1-year field test done in Japan showed that the HCPV generated 1.6 times energy per area than that of the crystalline Si module (fixed installation). This implies that the HCPV has an advantage not only desert area but wet and cloudy area. Intensive reliability tests were done to the HCPV module. One of the keys is lifetime of the receiver against 20 years of accumulated concentrated UV flux in wet environment and other accelerated environment. Finally, the new applications of HCPV including rooftop installation and see-through design are discussed