Deposition/processing lab
Characterization lab
Upscaling lab
Open-air lab
The study of the outdoor performance of photovoltaic modules/panels is the ultimate test for the commercialization, since the panels experience various environmental stresses, which randomly vary with time, that cannot be tested in the laboratory. Therefore, the direct correlation of the environmental conditions, such as solar irradiation, temperature, humidity and dust with the PV output performance provides valuable information of the performance of the PV panels. The open-air lab possesses all the supporting infrastructure, such as power electronics and automatic data acquisition systems for their continuous monitoring of the performance of PV panels in order to provide a better understanding of the their reliability and on top of that for the performing a benchmarking with traditional PV technologies, such as Silicon.
- Solar array and panel-level outdoor performance continuous monitoring, including current-voltage curves
- Field I-V curves for modules, strings, and arrays.
- Simulation for grid-connected energy generation
- Correlation studies to environmental conditions: irradiation, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction
- Benchmarking with commercially available solar panels, Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS), Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), Polycrystalline Silicon (Poly-Si) and Bifacial Si panels.
- Recording of real-time PV performance data at the maximum power point
- Outdoor solar farm infrastructure for the monitoring of module/panel temperature, DC characteristics and cumulative energy yield.
- Dedicated weather station together with a data acquisition system continuously monitors the environmental data, such as wind speed and direction, sun irradiation, humidity and temperature in real time.
- PV blocks, I-V curve tracers, SMUs
