PML researchers have devised a novel source of portable sunlight that may fill an urgent need in renewable energy research – namely, light sources that generate a near-perfect solar spectrum to be used in testing the performance and efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) materials.
The team’s laser-based solar simulator produces a spectral distribution almost identical to sunlight at wavelengths from 450 to 1750 nm, and does so in a readily-focused beam that can be easily adapted to examine the latest generation of nanoscale, multi-cell, and multi-layer PV configurations. Recently the system was tested head-to-head against the best conventional sources with very promising results.
Also: Read other Photonics tech briefs.
