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VLSI Standards opens solar cell calibration lab

Accurate measurement of the efficiency of solar cells and panels determines a manufacturer's ultimate end revenue. The Solar Reference Cell and the services provided by our new Solar Calibration Laboratory will allow solar manufacturers to gain greater quality control of the output of their factories by greatly increasing their measurement accuracy," explained Dr. Marco Tortonese, president of VLSI Standards.

By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- Electronic News, 8/5/2008

San Jose-based semiconductor metrology-based services provider VLSI Standards Inc has announced that it has reached completion of its solar calibration laboratory in San Jose, which is accredited by the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard for the measurements of Current, Voltage, Power, and Efficiency of Photovoltaic Devices under laboratory code 200302-0.

VLSI also said the laboratory uses calibration standards traceable to the International System of Units (SI) through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

At the same time, the company has also released the Solar Reference Cell, which will be used by solar manufacturers to monitor and calibrate solar simulators, which are critical in determining the efficiency of production solar cells and panels.

The company will also offer certifications of customer-supplied reference cells in order to provide traceable measurements of short circuit current (I_sc), open circuit voltage (V_oc), maximum power (P_max), cell area, quantum efficiency (QE), fill factor, and conversion efficiency.

“Accurate measurement of the efficiency of solar cells and panels determines a manufacturer’s ultimate end revenue. The Solar Reference Cell and the services provided by our new Solar Calibration Laboratory will allow solar manufacturers to gain greater quality control of the output of their factories by greatly increasing their measurement accuracy. It will provide a common ruler for efficiency measurement throughout the photovoltaic supply chain, from the cell manufacturer, to the module manufacturer, and to the panel installer, to compare efficiency claims and validate system performance at every step in the process,” explained Dr. Marco Tortonese, president of VLSI Standards, in a statement.

The Solar Reference Cell is manufactured from monocyrstalline silicon and is enclosed in a protective anodized aluminum case with a quartz window, available with either a 100 ohm platinum resistive temperature detector (RTD) or K-Type thermocouple temperature sensor configuration. The reference cell is calibrated at an irradiance of 1000W/m² (1 sun), and will come with an option for an associated traceable Certificate of Calibration.

VLSI Standards said the Solar Calibration Laboratory will begin to provide calibration services immediately by allowing solar manufacturers to submit their own solar reference cells to be measured and fully certified.