Supply of Large Area Solar Simulation Equipment

Tender description

To facilitate the solar parameter testing of large area perovskite modules, including the existing 30 x 30 cm glass substrate sheet module technology and future roll to roll large area strips, at the Pilot Manufacturing Research Centre (PMRC). SPECIFIC was setup in 2011 with the invaluable goal of bridging the gap from academic research to industrial and commercial application. PMRC is a unique pilot production plant located in the Baglan Energy Park in Port Talbot, enabling the scale-up of promising laboratory technology investigated at Swansea University Bay Campus. The cleanroom laboratory at the heart of PMRC is a unique facility currently in the process of relaunching for large-scale, low cost solar panel production. Perovskite solar cells have shown unprecedented progress in global research in recent years and are viewed as the most promising technology in the next generation of solar modules. They offer a lower cost alternative to traditional high-purity crystalline silicon currently on the market, with the added compatibility with flexible substrates. A large area solar simulator is critical to further scale-up development as the final stage of a complete development pipeline. It will also provide a unique capability within the UK; industrial scale silicon test systems employ a flash analysis which is not compatible with the emerging perovskite technology, therefore a large area bespoke system for perovskite technology is required and would be the first of its kind in the UK. SPECIFIC have recently developed an outdoor weathering array system for the long term monitoring of 30 x 30cm perovskite modules, however, the long term data acquisition is a time-consuming method for benchmarking performance improvements and not currently validated academically. Pairing this long term weathering data with the well-established AM1.5 Class AAA performance testing method would provide a significant opportunity for publications and potential future commercialisation.