Adjustable high-power-LED solar simulator with extended spectrum in UV region

Abstract This article describes the design of a tunable, versatile, light emitting diode (LED) based solar simulator that employs 19 different wavelengths controlled independently by high power LEDs, covering 250–1000 nm standard solar spectrum of AM1.5Global. The main aspects of design procedure were addressed, including the LEDs spatial arrangement, intensity control, thermal management and secondary optics. According to International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards on solar simulators rating, spectral match, irradiance non-uniformity and temporal instability of the solar simulator were investigated. The proposed solar simulator meets the Class AAA specifications in the all three categories for the test plane of 2.3 × 2.3 cm at a distance of 8.7 cm from the LEDs. The spectral tunability and extended spectrum of this solar simulator make it a useful tool in research studies of different fields, especially for testing of newly photovoltaic technologies with extended spectral responsivity in UV region such as ultraviolet responsive solar cells.