The Sciencetech 150 W fully reflective solar simulator is designed for general research applications, particularly solar cell testing following the ASTM E927-05 and IEC-904-9 standards. The diameter of the illuminated target can be adjusted, and can illuminate solar cells in the 5 x 5cm to 10 x 10cm (2"x2" to 4"x4") size range at 1 SUN.
The SS150 features a fully reflective design that does not require lenses or diffusers to make the output uniform at the target plane. This results in optimum throughput efficiency for the solar simulator, making Sciencetech solar simulators more efficient than competitive designs. The fully reflective design uses only mirrors to direct the light beam from the arc lamp source to the target plane, and produces high intensity, uniform illumination at the target plane. This design provides 1.3 times the output power at the target than the competing simulators that use the same wattage of arc lamp and diffusers to make the light field uniform at the target. The high pressure xenon lamp gives an excellent basic match for solar simulation and the solar spectral distribution at different Earth conditions can be simulated through use of Air Mass filters.
This solar simulator requires a special lamp in order to achieve good spatial uniformity (100-150XOF-SS). This special requirement is due to the manufacturing method of arc lamps, where a normal lamp has an irregularity in the glass surface where the hole used for gas insertion was closed. This irregularity reduces uniformity on the target plane with the fully reflective design of this small solar simulator. The larger fully reflective solar simulators do not require a special lamp.
 
Other Spectral Applications
The output light spectral distribution can also be custom tailored with different removable transmission and reflection filters such as a "water" filter or dichroic mirror. For UV type illuminators we offer a mercury-xenon lamp to enhance UV output. This solar simulator is often configured with a xenon lamp and AM1.5G filter which can illuminate a 7.6cm (3") diameter spot at 1 SUN for solar cell testing.
 
Spectral Range
The SS150 provides a broadband spectral range of 250-2500nm without any filters.
 
Solar Cell Testing
Solar cell testing requires strict uniformity to meet the ASTM E927-05(2005) and IEC-904-9 ANSI standards. For Sciencetech's fully reflective solar simulators to meet this uniformity requirement only the inside portion of the illuminated target spot can be used. This is because the uniformity falls rapidly at the outer edge of the illuminated target spot and hence the last few millimeters of the edge area cannot be used. The inside spot maintains a 2% non-uniformity, which is in compliance with the ASTM E937-05(2005) and IEC-904-9 ANSI standards for solar cell testing. Sciencetech also offers optional computer generated spatial filters to meet particular needs (for example 1% uniformity).
 
Power Output
Using an AM1.5G filter, the SS150 can produce 1.5 SUN on a 7.6cm (3") diameter spot at a distance of 61cm (24"). This can illuminate a sample such as a solar cell up to 5 x 5cm (2" x 2") in size.
 
Spatial Non-uniformity
This model is designed specifically for solar cell testing and meets ASTM Class A standards at 2-3% spatial non-uniformity.
 
Alignment