Modular LED arrays for large area solar simulation. (26th September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Al‐Ahmad, Alaa Y.; Holdsworth, John; Vaughan, Ben; Sharafutdinova, Galiya; Zhou, Xiaojing; Belcher, Warwick J.; Dastoor, Paul C.
• Is Part Of: Progress in photovoltaics. Volume 27:Number 2(2019)
• Page Start: 179
• Page End: 189
• Publication Date: 2018-09-26
• Subjects: LED -- solar simulator -- solar simulator standards; Solar cells -- Periodicals; Photovoltaic cells -- Periodicals; Solar power plants -- Periodicals; 621.31245
• DOI: 10.1002/pip.3072
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1062-7995

Abstract

Abstract: A modular array of light emitting diodes of six different wavelengths is modelled and experimentally tested to provide Class AAA solar simulator illumination over an area of 20 cm 2 . The module demonstrates uniform distribution of light flux density across the sample test plane region, achieving Class A AM 1.5 G irradiance (100 mW/cm 2 ) across the 400 to 1100‐nm wavelength range. The new system has a spectral match of 99.5%, a spatial non‐uniformity of 2.0%, and a temporal instability of <0.2%. The performance of the design (which will allow for large area simulators to be cheaply assembled from multiple modules) is then critically assessed in terms of the existing solar simulator standards and benchmarked against a conventional simulator. Abstract : This paper presents the design, development, and characterisation of a light emitting diode solar simulator module that can be tessellated to form large area solar simulator systems. It is demonstrated that the system has Class AAA performance and that by combining low‐cost components and a tessellating modular design, it is possible to upscale the design to any desired illumination area.