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Global calibration of terrestrial reference cells and errors involved in using different irradiance monitoring techniques

Conference ·
OSTI ID:5817137

Experiments have shown that global calibration of terrestrial reference cells is feasible provided reasonable constraints on irradiance and incident sun angle are used. There is significantly less dependence of the calibration value on atmospheric composition in the global method compared to the collimated technique. A simple, accurate secondary calibration technique based on ratios of test to reference cell currents measured in natural sunlight was developed. Studies and experiments have been performed to determine relative merits and errors involved in using different techniques for monitoring incident irradiance during solar cell performance measurements. The techniques of black-body detectors, calibrated reference cells, and the convolution of spectral response with solar irradiance are considered. The second is the most accurate technique.

Research Organization:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Cleveland, OH (USA). Lewis Research Center
DOE Contract Number:
EX-76-A-29-1022
OSTI ID:
5817137
Report Number(s):
DOE/NASA/20485-79/6; NASA-TM-81393; CONF-800106-5
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English