Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology as a typical PV application is becoming popular due to its advantages of high conversion efficiency and low cost etc. However an important issue for CPV technology is the non-uniformity on the illumination and the temperature which can finally influence the overall electrical efficiency of solar cells. This study presents the feature of the non-uniform illumination and temperature, and reviews the cause and harm of the non-uniform illumination and temperature. Then the specific effect on cell parameters of different solar cells is analyzed, and finally the improving methods for reducing this negative effect on concentrating solar cells are proposed. This review will help researchers to learn the effect of the non-uniformity on the illumination and the temperature, and common improvement method, which will benefit CPV design and optimization. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.