AIT - PVS Lab - Tools for PV characterization reliability

AIT’s competence unit Energy Conversion & Hydrogen (AIT, Center for Energy) is equipped with state-of-the-art research and testing infrastructure for PV, including indoor (pulse and steady state solar simulators, quantum efficiency measurement setups, climatic chambers, etc) and outdoor PV testing facilities. Precision measurements of the optical, electrical and ageing characteristics of PV cells, modules and systems can be performed. In climatic and UV chambers, the accelerated ageing of PV system components can be simulated, whereas a mechanical-load test-bench is also at AIT’s disposal. Methods like electroluminescence, light- and dark-thermography, UV- and photoluminescence enable precise and non-destructive optical examinations of the cells/modules. Further, the infrastructure includes laboratories for the fabrication of thin films and nanostructures by physical and chemical deposition techniques (sputtering, evaporation, spray-pyrolysis, electrodeposition, SILAR, etc), as well as materials characterization (XRD, FTIR, AFM, SEM, EDX, etc).