Abstract
I-Vcharacterization of solar cells is generally done under natural sunlight or solar simulators operating in either a continuous mode or a pulse mode. Simulators are classified on three features of irradiance, namely, spectral match with respect to air mass 1.5, spatial uniformity, and temporal stability. Commercial solar simulators use Xenon lamps and halogen lamps, whereas LED-based solar simulators are being developed. In this work, we build and test seven simulators for solar cell characterization, namely, one tungsten halogen simulator, four monochromatic (red, green, blue, and white) LED simulators, one multicolor LED simulator, and one tungsten halogen-blue LED simulator. The seven simulators provide testing at nonstandard test condition. High irradiance from simulators is obtained by employing elevated supply voltage to tungsten halogen lamps and high pulsing voltages to LEDs. This new approach leads to higher irradiance not previously obtained from tungsten halogen lamps and LEDs. FromI-Vcurves, electrical parameters of solar cell are made and corrected based on methods recommended in the IEC 60891 Standards. Corrected values obtained from non-STC measurements are in good agreement with those obtained from Class AAA solar simulator.
Highlights
Solar simulators for solar cell testing can be broadly classified into 3 groups, namely, AM 1.5 G terrestrial system solar simulators, AM 1.5 D concentrating PV solar simulators, and AM 0 space system solar simulators
This paper focuses on construction and characteristics of simulators not conforming to AM 1.5 G, with emphasis on light emitting diodes (LED)-based simulators, and applications of the IEC 60891 Standards on non-standard test condition (STC) results
Higher irradiance are achieved with tungsten halogen lamps and LEDs, by operating lamps at elevated supply voltage above rated voltage and pulsing LEDs by at voltage, respectively
Summary
Solar simulators for solar cell testing can be broadly classified into 3 groups, namely, AM 1.5 G terrestrial system solar simulators, AM 1.5 D concentrating PV solar simulators, and AM 0 space system solar simulators. As there are simulators not conforming to AM 1.5 G, notably simulators based on metal halide lamps and LEDs, the IEC 60891 Standards provide correction methods to convert the non-STC test results to the STC [7]. During the present decade the major research trend in solar simulators for terrestrial solar cells is on low cost and high intensity LED solar simulators and translation of non-STC results. Solar simulators using Xenon lamps and metal halide sources were reported over forty years ago, initially for space radiation simulation and afterwards for terrestrial solar cell characterization. This paper is on construction and testing of seven solar simulators for solar cell characterization using tungsten halogen lamps and monochromatic red, green, blue, and white LEDs. High irradiance is achieved by operating lamps at elevated supply voltage above rated voltage, and in LEDs by applying voltage high pulses. Solar cell electrical parameters are derived and corrected according to the IEC 60891 Standards for I-V characterization at nonSTC obtained under the seven simulators
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