Sun Simulators: Development of an Innovative Low Cost Film Filter

Sun simulators are employed to test the performance of photovoltaic (PV)devices, according to the standard International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61215.Economical and technical analysis show that PV manufacturers need to integrate Sunsimulators in the production process and, in particular, at the end of the production chain inorder to measure the I-V curve and to evaluate the peak power of PV devices. Sunsimulators need specific lamps to simulate the solar spectrum and a specific filter tosimulate atmosphere absorbance. Such a filter can cost over €6 per square centimeter. Theaim of this work is to develop an alternative filter. In particular, both chemical analysis andspectrophotometric measurements are carried out to evaluate if the Air Mass (AM) 1.5 G filtercan be replaced by a cheaper material. Preliminary simulations show how specific compoundscoated on a glass surface can absorb the Sun spectrum, such as the AM 1.5 filter, but withlower costs.