From Guest Blogger Mathias: New Solar Module Testing Facility Opens in New Mexico
As an extension to Faunhofer’s Center of Sustainable Development (CSE) already well established Albuquerque solar research annex, a new outdoor test field, OTF-1, will be opened to assess field performance and durability of new solar modules.
This will enable solar manufacturers to study their solar panels in greater detail, obtaining much needed experimental data, in order to meet performance standards and lifetime expectations, and eventually push them even further. Albuquerque has more than 310 sunny days on a typical year, so building the testing facility here makes good sense.
Image credit: Fraunhofer USA
UL, IEC and similar certifications are the main focuses of the new testing facility. To do this in an efficient manner, many types of analysis will be conducted on separate solar modules (mono-, polycrystalline and thin-film), a whole range of converters and grid-tied components.
Receiving test verification from an independent and non-profit organization, such as Fraunhofer CSE, is of great value to solar manufactorers, and will likely increase the “bankability” of their own products.
“This facility reinforces our commitment to conducting cutting-edge solar research for our clients, and gives our experienced technical team the flexibility to accommodate a broad range of solar power performance testing projects.” Says Dr. Hoepfner, the Scientific Director at Fraunhofer CSE.
Ultimately, Fraunhofer`s the new solar testing facility is a significant help in bridging the gap between wide-scale applications of renewable energy and much needed laboratory testing.
Source: Fraunhofer USA
So how long will it take for the testing procedure to determine the useful life of solar energy devices? For example, would it take 20 years to determine that the device has a useful life of at least 20 years? That doesn’t seem very practical. The device could become obsolete before the test is completed.
In some industries, artificial accelerated aging is used to determine the likely life of products. For solar devices, that could perhaps be done by subjecting the devices to artificial solar radiation that is many times stronger than natural solar radiation, provided the temperature could be kept from being excessive.