(July 27,
2012) A new
versatile measurement system devised by researchers at the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) accurately and quickly measures the electric
power output of solar energy devices, capabilities useful to researchers and
manufacturers working to develop and make next-generation solar energy cells.
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Innovative devices that convert
sunlight to electric power more efficiently and cost effectively than the
current generation of solar cell technology are the objects of a global
pursuit—means to reducing fossil-fuel consumption and to securing pole position
in the competition for fast-growing international markets for clean energy
sources.
As reported in the journal
Applied Optics,* the NIST team has combined 32 LEDs—each generating light from
different segments of the solar spectrum—and other off-the-shelf equipment with
their custom-made technologies to build a system that measures the
wavelength-dependent quantum efficiency of solar devices over a relatively
large area.
Anticipated advantages over
current approaches—most of which use incandescent lamps or xenon arc and other
types of discharge lamps—are greater speed and ease of operation, more uniform
illumination, and a service life that is about 10 times longer.
The new NIST system for measuring
spectral response easily accommodates two unique but complementary methods for
determining how much electric current a solar, or photovoltaic (PV), device
generates when hit by a standard amount of sunlight. Both methods are
straightforward, and they use the same hardware setup.