Advanced Solar cell simulators with built-in I-V characterization facilities are available in the market. These equipment allow you to characterize you solar cells under different AM standard conditions. Alternatively, if you are just looking for a light source which can simulate solar radiation, then you can go for Xenon arc lamps. The Xenon lamps offer wide and continuous range of wavelengths from Infrared to UV. The cost of Xenon arc lamp will be much less than that of a fully equipped solar simulator.

There are several suppliers of so called 'low-cost solar simulators' -- basically Xe arc lamps including optical filters that match the lamp output to the solar spectrum (e.g. AM1.5). They enable homogeneous illumination on a few cm², so if you have cells with small active area, this might suitable for your purpose. We purchased such a low-cost solar simulator recently, and it cost less than $10.000.

It is a set of electrical bulb lights to give a energy distribution equals the solar power with possibilities of variable amounts. To be used in indoor experimental works.

Thanks all for your interest, But I ask if there is any alternative for sun simulator with very low cost because there is a financial problem in our institute now? 

@Mahmoud Hammad: If you really want to test cells under sunlight conditions, it is not sufficient to simply use light bulbs with light power adding up to 1000 W/m²! You need a light source equivalent to a black body with temperature around 5500K. No light bulb will survive these temperatures. They typically emit in the infra-red.

Amr, s far as I know, a Xe lamp is the cheapest solution you will get if you want standard conditions. If you can afford to go without that but you need only reproducible optical power and spectral distribution, you could think about using LEDs for illumination...

You can use standard halogen bulbs from a hardware store to get the right illumination intensity but unfortunately the spectrum will never be a good match without the correct optical filter set such as you get in a simulator. As an approximation it can be used however i would only advise using proper simulators for any data you wish to report. My suggestion would be to set up using halogens and if possible, to ask a collaborator with a good simulator to measure a few cells for reference then adjust to get as close those values as possible. As i say the data will not be correct but for cheap and simple comparison measurements it will work.

Sulphur plasma lamps provides an affordable and a partially good overlap with AM1.5G spectrum, but lacks in UV radiation. As has been already recommended, xenon arc lamps with suitable filters provide the best option.

The publication attached to this message provides some guidance upon suitable light sources.

Article Consensus stability testing protocols for organic photovolta...

The Class AAA Solar Simulators feature OAI's Advanced Uniform Beam Optics and are available with a choice of air mass filters to reproduce a wide range of solar spectra. For added flexibility, OAI's proven lens and collimating mirror technology allows for a variety of exposure area sizes.

A Class AAA Solar Simulator is an essential tool for manufacturing as well as R&D; it is indispensable in test labs, industry, and in universities. OAI Standard Solar Simulators are used in photobiology, biomedical, solar cell testing, cosmetic testing, and paints & coatings analysis. Based on 35+ years of proven UV light technology, OAI Solar Simulator Systems deliver repeatable, reliable, constant output, and measurement uniformity.

Can you perform outdoor measurements? No one can simulate solar irradiation better than the sun itself (believe me; I develop best-in-class solar simulators;). You need to know the irradiance level if you do so and the temperature of the sample. You can borrow a reference cell or a radiometer or refer to the irradiation data provided by your local Meteorology institute. You then compensate your data based on the irradiance level and the sample's temperature for STC according to the IEC60891 standard. You then have of course a rough idea of the performances and can at least compare cells.

Hi,

You can go for NewPort Sol 3A Solar Simulator and Keithley source 2440

With solar simulator, you can measure the Voc and Jsc generated by a device. According to these values, finally you can calculate the efficiency.

Anyway, nowadays all solar simulators providing software, which generate the all cell parameters.

_Thanks,

Chandrasekhar.

10 K Euro is expensive for us. Hope to get some cells from infinityPV, Dr.Hosel  :).

Thanks for the alternative - I can try the real sun method. I just did not know how to convert those readings to STC.

I want a artificial sun light source which represents the original sunlight spectrum to focus on 2.5 cm X 2.5 cm area. Can any one suggests best solar simulator for this? It should act as a solar light source.

Dear @Padmavathi Bandaru

I recommend to you this product.

It is cost effective and Japan quality

http://www.san-eielectric.co.jp/e/indu12.htm

Thank you so much Amr Hessein!