Industrial Solar Simulator Calibrator based on special solar module
Mexico is currently emerging in the photovoltaic manufacturing market due to favorable geographical conditions like 5.5 hours of sun every day (5000W/m2) and a strategic commercial partner (USA) for exportation of photovoltaic products, therefore a gradual advance in the photovoltaic field as a source of clean energy generation in Mexico is inevitable, this causes a need to classify solar simulators located in photovoltaic manufacturing facilities across the whole country. The construction of a standard for the classification of large area solar simulators in non- uniformity irradiance (MMNU) was achieved, considering specifications of the international standards IEC90604-9 and IEC90604-2. The procedure for using this MMNU substantially improves the classification time of a large area solar simulation and its versatility of use in an industrial environment, resulting in suitable on-site measurements. The MMNU is composed of six electronic reading circuits and 36 cells which are connected individually, it can generate an irradiance map up to 72 regions and the measurement uncertainty within the operating temperature conditions of 29 C to 31 C was 1.1 % using the mathematical expression for non-uniformity in the standard IEC90604-9. Various strategies have been outlined to reduce the measurement uncertainty of the entire system, like reducing its thermal drift during measurement and improving the measurement uncertainty in electrical voltage by creating a new electronic reading module that would include a more robust microcontroller and A/D converter with higher resolution.