Solar simulator

A solar simulator is a technical device for the simulation of natural sunlight. It is used to examine the effects of light on certain objects to be irradiated under laboratory conditions.

Since natural sunlight to strong temporal fluctuations, the use of a solar simulator against field experiments has the advantage that measurements carried out under defined, continuous, daily and seasonally independent conditions and can also be reproduced.

The disadvantage is the increased expenditure on equipment, which increased capital, operating and maintenance costs and the difficulty of finding a suitable light source that reflects the sunlight spectrum as accurately as possible.

Areas of application

Examples of the use of solar simulators are:

• Plant experiments under controlled environmental conditions
• Cultivation of plants in greenhouses
• Measurement of total solar energy transmittance levels of large-area transparent components, glazing, shading devices and others
• Light therapy in medicine
• Investigate the performance of solar cells, see here
• Investigate the performance of solar collectors
• Simulation of light aging behavior of amorphous solar cells (degradation)

Solar simulators in photovoltaics

In the field of photovoltaics, a distinction on the one hand and the continuous ( or stationary ) simulator on the other side between the pulsed (or flash simulator).

Flash Light Simulator

The flash simulator is particularly suitable for the study of the efficiency of solar cells, that is to say for the reception of the current-voltage characteristics. With a relatively low electrical output, a very high irradiance can be achieved. By only brief irradiation and heating of the object to be measured, the filter and the area is usually negligible.

Continuous Simulator

The continuous simulator is suitable for the study of light aging behavior of amorphous solar cells (degradation). The advantage of this simulator is its simple, inexpensive and robust construction. It is also suitable for materials with increased response times, such as thin film amorphous silicon cells which have a higher capacity than the cells of crystalline silicon. Disadvantage to be affected by the relatively high power consumption and ambient heating.

Other distinguishing features

Other distinguishing characteristics of solar simulators in the field of photovoltaics are:

Size

The size of the recording unit for objects to be irradiated from a few square centimeters (one cell ) up to several square meters (several modules).

Accuracy

According to their performance solar simulators in precision classes (Class A, B and C) are divided. The performance requirements for simulators in different accuracy classes are defined in the standard IEC 60904-9 with the name.

Light source

That the reference solar spectrum AM 1.5 spectrum most similar to Xenon lamps, followed by metal halide lamps. Halogen lamps are indeed cheaper, but only suitable for use in solar simulators in the field of photovoltaics.