Germany’s Wavelabs Solar Metrology Systems GmbH has released two new solar simulators for testing high-efficiency cells, one for production lines and one for research laboratories.
Sinus-360 PRO is designed to be fast enough for use by cell manufacturers. It is made to test high efficiency solar cell technologies such as passivated emitter back contact (PERC), heterojunction (HJT) and tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon).
The size of the illumination area is 260 mm x 260 mm, which means that it can accommodate the newer, larger cell sizes. It features nineteen individually controlled LED channels with optional backlight, electroluminescence, and infrared imaging modules that allow manufacturers to perform multiple inspection protocols in one small machine.
The research lab-sized Sinus-360 Advanced has 27 individually controlled LED channels and is optimized for testing perovskite-silicon tandem cells. The prototype has been used by researchers in the solar cell calibration laboratory of the Hamelin Solar Energy Research Laboratory (CalTec) in Germany since 2022.
“(It) gives us the greatest possible freedom to adjust the spectrum distribution of the solar simulator. In addition, we are already prepared for the measurements of tandem solar cells, which will be increasingly important in the future and whose measurement requires adjusting the radiation intensity of the individual sub-cells,” CalTec director Karsten Bothe says in the press release.
Sinus-360 Advanced was selected as the winner of the Intersolar Award 2023 at the Intersolar exhibition in Munch.
