Reliable&accuratecharacterisationofphotovoltaicdevices.
Takefullcontrolofyoursolarcellmeasurementswith thesystem"seasy-to-usePCsoftware-noprogrammingknowledgenecessary!
PartoftheInstituteofPhysics award-winningossilaSolarCellPrototypingplatform,Ossila"sSolarCellI-VSystemisalow-costsolutionforreliablecharacterisationof photovoltaic devices.
ThePC software(includedwithallvariantsofthesystem)measuresthecurrent-voltagecurveofasolarcellandthenautomaticallycalculateskeydeviceproperties.FurThermore,I-VmeasurementscanbeperformedperiodicallyovertimetotrackthestABIlityoftheseproperties.
Thesystemisavailablewitheithermanualorautomaticpixelswitching(ifyouareusingoneofOssila"ssubstratesystems),orwithoutatestboardforusewithyourownsubstrateandtestingsystem(orifyoualreadyownoneofourtestboards).ThissystemiscoveredbyourFREE2-yearwarranty.
- Features
- PCSoftware
- SystemSelectionGuide
- Specifications
- SoftwareRequirements
- Theory
Features
CalculatesDeviceProperties-ThePCsoftware(includedwiththesystem)automaticallycalculateskeypropertiesofsolarcellsfromthemeasuredI-Vcurves.Thesepropertiesinclude:thepowerconversionefficiency(PCE),fillfactor(FF),short-circuitcurrentdensity(Jsc),open-circuitvoltage(Voc),shuntresistance(Rsh),andseriesresistance(Rs).
Easy-to-Use-Justpluginthesystem,installthePCsoftware,andyou"rereadytogo!TheintuitiveinterfaceandcleandesignmakestheSolarCellI-VSystemeasy-to-use,simplifyingthecharacterisationofsolarcells.
WideMeasurementRange-Thebuilt-insourcemeasureunitiscapableofdeliveringvoltagesbetween-10Vand+10V,withamaximumresolutionof333μV,andmeasuringcurrentsfromaslowas±10nAupto±150mA.
RapidCharacterisation-Ifyouareusingoneofoursubstratesystems,theSolarCellI-VSystemcanbepurchasedwithamultiplexingtestboard(justselectthe"automated"variantofyourchoiceinthedrop-downlist),whichenablesautomaticpixelswitching.Asanaddedbonus,thetemperatureandlightwillalsoberecordedduringthemeasurement!
MeasureDeviceStability-Byperformingrepeatedcurrent-voltagemeasurementsoveranextendedperiodoftime,thestabilityofkeydevicepropertiescanbetracked.
SystemType | NoTestBoard | Manual | Multiplexer |
±10VSourceRange | |||
±333μVSourceResolution | |||
±150mAMeasurementRange | |||
±10nAMeasurementResolution | |||
SoftwareIncluded | |||
AutomaticSolarCellCharacterisation | |||
SinglePixelSolarLifetimeMeasurement | |||
ForUseWithS101,S211,orS171Substrates | |||
AutomaticPixelSwitching | |||
MultiplePixelsSolarLifetimeMeasurement |
PCSoftware
- Simple andintuitively-designedinterface
- Datasavedto.csvfile
- Calculatessolarcellproperties(PCE,FF,Jsc,Voc,Rsh,Rs)
- Trackpropertiesovertime
- Measurethestabilisedcurrentoutputofasolarcell
- Saveandloadpreviouslyusedsettings
Thecurrent-voltagemeasurementiscontrolledusingintuitiveanduser-friendlyPCsoftware.Allofthemeasurementscanbefullycustomised, allowingyoutotailorthesoftwaretoyourexperiment.
WiththePCsoftware,youcan:
- Performcurrent-voltagemeasurementsanywherebetween-10and10V.
- Takehighresolutionmeasurements,withvoltageincrementsaslowas333µV.
- Managetheexperimentmoredirectly,withcustomsettletimesbetweenapplyingvoltageandmeasuringcurrent.
- Measuredevicehysteresisbyperformconsecutivemeasurementsinforwardsandbackwarddirections.
Thesoftwarehas3measurementtabs:SolarCellCharacterisation,StabilisedCurrentOutput,andSolarLifetimeMeasurement.SolarCellCharacterisationperformsI-Vmeasurementsandcalculatestheimportantdeviceproperties.DeterminehowthecurrentoutputofyourdeviceevolvesovertimeusingtheStabilisedCurrentOutputtab.TheSolarLifetimeMeasurementtabenablesyoutotrackkeydeviceproperties(PCE,FF,Jsc,Voc)overanextendedtimebyperformingperiodicI-Vcharacterisation.Betweenmeasurementsthesolarcellcanbeheldatopen-circuit,short-circuit,ormaximumpower.
Dataissavedto.csv(comma-separatedvalues)files,whichareformattedtobeeasytoreadandanalyse.Settingsaresavedalongwiththedata,makingiteasiertokeeparecordoftheparametersusedforeachexperiment.Thesesettingsfilescanbeloadedbytheprogram,andsettingsprofilescanbesavedforeachdifferentmeasurementtype,allowingyoutoeasilyperformrepeatmeasurementsoruseparticularconfigurations.
SystemSelectionGuide
Thetablebelowwillhelpyoudeterminewhichsystemisrightforyou.Themanualversionofthesystemhasswitchesonthetestboarditself,whichtheuseroperatestomeasurethedifferentpixelsonasolarcelldevice.Theautomatedversionofthesystemusesamultiplexingtestboard,whichswitchesbetweenthesepixelsautomatically.Note,ifyouuseoneofoursubstrateslistedinthetableandanotherkindofsubstrateaswell,werecommendmanualpixelswitching,asthetestboardcanbedetachedandreplacedwithanotherone.
Substrate | ||||
PixelSwitching | S211 | S101 | S171 | OtherSubstrates |
Automated | Automated-S211(T2003B) | Automated-S101(T2003A) | Automated-S171(T2003C) | - |
Manual | Manual-S211(T2002B)* | Manual-S101(T2002A) | Manual-S171(T2002B)* | - |
SourceMeasureUnitOnly | - | - | - | SourceMeasureUnitOnly(T2002D) |
*BoththeManual-S211andManual-S171usethesametestboardandproductcode.
Specifications
VoltageSource | ±333μVto±10V |
CurrentMeasurement | 10nAto150mA |
SubstrateSize | 20mmx15mm |
SubstrateCompatibility-T2002A/T2003A | S101(OLEDsubstrates) |
SubstrateCompatibility-T2002B/T2003B | S211(PVsubstrates) |
SubstrateCompatibility-T2002B/T2003C | S171(Pixelatedcathodesubstrates) |
OverallDimensions-Manual | SourceMeasureUnit:Width:125mmHeight:55mmDepth:185mmTestBoard:Width:105mmHeight:40mmDepth:125mm |
OverallDimensions-Automated | Width:155mmHeight:73mmDepth:317mm |
SoftwareRequirements
OperatingSystem | WindowsVista,7,8,or10(32-bitor64-bit) |
CPU | DualCore2GHz |
RAM | 2GB |
AvailableHardDriveSpace | 178MB |
MonitorResolution | 1680x1050 |
Connectivity | USB2.0,orEthernet(requiresDHCP) |
Theory
Current-voltagemeasurements(I-Vcurves)aretheprimarymeasurementforcharactisingsolarcells.Here,thecurrentflowingthroughthedeviceismeasuredatdifferentvoltageswhilstitisunderIllumination.
ThereareseveralkeypropertiesthatcanbeextractedfromtheI-Vcurveofasolar,whichareshownonthediagramabove.
- Theshort-circuitcurrentdensity(Jsc)isthephotogeneratedcurrentdensityofthesolarcellwhenthereisnodrivingvoltage,andcanbeextractedfromtheinterceptwiththey-axis.
- Theopen-circuitvoltage(Voc)isthevoltageatwhichtheappliedvoltagecancelsoutthebuilt-inelectricfield,andcanbeextractedfromtheinterceptwiththex-axis.
- Thefillfactor(FF)istheratiooftheactualoutputpowerofthedevicetoitspoweriftherewerenoparasiticresistances.ThiscanbecalculatedbydividingthemaximumpoweroutputofthedevicebytheproductoftheJscandtheVoc(thepotentialmaximumpower).
- Finally,thepowerconversionefficiency(PCE),theratioofincidentlightpower(Pin)tooutputelectricalpower(Pout),iscalculatedusingthefollowingequation:
Foramorein-depthexplanationaboutthecharacterisationofsolarcells,checkoutourguideonsolarcelltheoryandmeasurement.
MoreTest Systems
Four-PointProbeSystem
OLEDLifetimeSystem
Tothebestofourknowledgethetechnicalinformationprovidedhereisaccurate.However,Ossilaassumenoliabilityfortheaccuracyofthisinformation.Thevaluesprovidedherearetypicalatthetimeofmanufactureandmayvaryovertimeandfrombatchtobatch.