SOLARENERGY
VLSI continues to set standards
The company sets up a solar calibration laboratory and releases NREL
traceable solar reference cell. The solar laboratory is expected to provide
NREL traceable certifications of customer supplied solar reference cells.
Issue I 2009
V
LSI Standards has announced that it manufacturer, and to the panel installer, to
has reached completion of its solar compare efficiency claims and validate system
-pv-management.com calibration laboratory in San Jose, California. The performance at every step in the process.”
laboratory is accredited by the National Voluntary
.solar
Laboratory Accreditation Programme (NVLAP) to The Solar Reference Cell is manufactured from
www
the ISO/IEC 17025 standard for the measurements mono-crystalline silicon and comes enclosed in a
of current, voltage, power, and efficiency of protective anodised aluminium case with a quartz
30
photovoltaic devices under laboratory code window. It is available with either a 100 ohm
200302-0. The laboratory uses calibration platinum resistive temperature detector (RTD) or K-
standards traceable to the International System of Type thermocouple temperature sensor
Units (SI) through the National Renewable Energy configuration.
Laboratory (NREL).
The Solar Reference Cell is calibrated at an
Concurrently, with the opening of the calibration irradiance of 1000W/m
2
(1 sun). The Solar
laboratory, the company has also released its first Reference Cell will also come with an option for an
solar calibration product: The Solar Reference Cell. associated traceable Certificate of Calibration.
The Solar Reference Cell will be used by solar
manufacturers to monitor and calibrate solar The Solar Calibration Laboratory will begin to
simulators, which are critical in determining the provide calibration services immediately by
efficiency of production solar cells and panels. allowing solar manufacturers to submit their own
solar reference cells to be measured and fully
The company will also offer certifications of certified. With the increased competition in the
customer supplied reference cells. The race to improve PV device efficiency and reduce
certifications will provide traceable measurements costs the Solar Reference Cell is a timely addition.
of short circuit current (Isc), open circuit voltage
(Voc), maximum power (Pmax), cell area, quantum
efficiency (QE), fill factor, and conversion efficiency.
“Accurate measurement of the efficiency of solar
cells and panels determines a manufacturer’s
ultimate end revenue,” said Dr. Marco Tortonese,
President of VLSI Standards. “The Solar Reference
Cell and the services provided by our new Solar
Calibration Laboratory will allow solar
manufacturers to gain greater quality control of the
output of their factories by greatly increasing their
measurement accuracy.
It will provide a common ruler for efficiency
measurement throughout the photovoltaic supply
chain, from the cell manufacturer, to the module SRC-1000TC
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