A BANKABLE METHOD FOR THE FIELD TESTING OF A CPV PLANT

Concentrating Photovoltaics (CPV) is an alternative to flat-plate module photovoltaic (PV) technology. The bankability of CPV projects is an important issue to pave the way toward a swift and sustained growth in this technology. The bankability of a PV plant is generally addressed through the modeling of its energy yield under a baseline loss scenario, followed by an on-site measurement campaign aimed at verifying its energetic behavior. This paper proposes a methodology for assessing the performance of a CPV project, articulated around four main successive steps: Solar Resource Assessment, Yield Assessment, Certificate of Provisional Acceptance, and Certificate of Final Acceptance. This methodology allows the long-term energy production of a CPV project to be estimated with an associated uncertainty that is around σ = 5%. To our knowledge, there is up to date no such a method at the disposal of the CPV industry, and this situation has hindered or made impossible the completion of several important CPV projects undertaken in the world. The main motive for this proposal is to bring a practical solution to this urgent problem.