A worldwide assessment of economic feasibility of HCPV power plants: Profitability and competitiveness

Numerous exhaustive analyses of the economic assessment of conventional PV systems are available in the literature. However, there is a lack of these studies concerning High Concentrator Photovoltaic (HCPV) technology. Besides, future owners and potential investors on HCPV plant demand information relating to the economic feasibility of their investment. In this work the profitability and competitiveness of HCPV plants in several countries are analysed. To analyse the profitability the internal rate of return (IRR) criterion has been used, while the competitiveness has been analysed based on estimating the so-called HCPV generation parity. As a result of the economic profitability analysis conducted the group of countries where the investment in HCPV could be interesting has been identified. The results obtained could be also useful for researchers to identify the weaknesses of the HCPV technology and take actions at making it more competitive. From the competitiveness analysis carried out in several Eurozone countries and USA for two possible scenarios 2015 and 2020, the results show that HCPV could be competitive in some locations in 2020. Therefore, government organizations of the studied countries, which participate in the design or the selection of support mechanisms for HCPV, can be guided by the results obtained. •The economic profitability of HCPV plants worldwide, using as the criterion the internal rate of return (IRR) has been studied.•The competitiveness of HCPV plants worldwide, based on estimating the so-called HCPV generation parity has been evaluated.•Detection of the more appropriate countries for investing in HCPV power plant in terms of the IRR has been investigated.•So-called parity generation HCPV will be achieved in some European countries and regions of USA for the year 2020.