In this paper we present detailed balance simulations which determine the material parameters required to produce hot carrier solar cell (HCSC) annual energy yields comparable with that of multi-junction (MJ) systems. We demonstrate that HCSCs are less spectrally sensitive than equivalent MJ devices providing significant motivation for pursuing their development. Spectral variation in a given location over the course of the day and throughout the year means that the HCSC provides more consistent power production. The HCSC can also be developed for a standard reference spectrum and still perform optimally in a variety of locations with different atmospheric conditions, unlike the location sensitive performance of MJ devices. We show that an ideal hot carrier solar cell with bandgap 0.69 eV under 2000 x concentration would require a thermalization coefficient < 0.1 W K-1 cm(-2) to produce more power over the course of the year than an InGaP/GaAs/Ge triple junction device located at Solar Village in Saudi Arabia. The lowest experimentally demonstrated thermalization coefficient is 9.5 W K-1 cm(-2) indicating that further materials development is required to achieve this target. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.