The Application of Spectral Reference Cells to Non-linear Photovoltaic Cells

Abstract

For evaluation of the characteristics of photovoltaic cells, the solar simulator should be adjusted to 1 kW/m² utilizing a reference cell. For adjusting the solar simulator, IEC requires that the spectral responsivity of each reference cell should be the same as the spectral responsivity of the photovoltaic cell under test. This method is very accurate, but it takes time and cost, because this method needs individual physical reference cells. Therefore, we propose a Spectral Reference Cell method that can be used for adjustment of solar simulator intensity for testing photovoltaic cells without using specific physical reference cells. This method adjusts the intensity of solar simulator for various spectral responses within 3% error. Furthermore, we also expand this method to non-linear photovoltaic cells by using DSR method that can measure using the absolute spectral responsivity at various irradiance levels. Utilizing this method, it was possible to adjust the intensity of solar simulator within 3% error. This method can dramatically reduce the time and cost of adjusting solar simulator’s irradiance for various photovoltaic cells. We think that our “Spectral Reference Cell Method” will be very useful in the development stage of photovoltaic cells, especially for non-linear cells, because this method does not require the developing of specific physical refer ence cells.