What Should You Know About Solar Sun Simulator?

A solar sun simulator, also known as a sunlight simulator, solar simulator, or artificial sun, is a device that offers illumination like natural sunlight. Experts use it for having a controllable indoor test facility under lab conditions.

Components of a solar sun simulator in India

A solar sun simulator is made of several different parts. Its components are lamp, lamp housing & power supply, collimating optics, homogenizing optics, and air mass filter. Further, it has a back reflector, ND filters, and spectral filters.

Uses

People use a solar sun simulator in India to simulate solar conditions indoors for:

·         Photovoltaic devices such as solar panels and photochemical batteries

·         Cosmetics products

·         Consumer electronics goods such as cameras, cell phones, and photochromic lenses

·         Building or industrial material analysis such as paints, plastics, and textiles

·         Research studies in medical and biological sciences   

Features of a solar sun simulator

·         Spectral match

·         Spatial uniformity

·         Temporal stability

·         Power/irradiance at the target of illumination

·         Collimation angle of the output beam

 Types of solar sun simulators

Experts divide solar sun simulators into two different categories based on the duration of their emission – steady-state (continuous) and pulsed (flashed). Sometimes, they categorize simulators based on the use of lamps in number – single-lamp or multi-lamp.

·         Continuous simulators – It is a light source form in which illumination continues in time. And due to this, it is also acknowledged as steady-state simulator. Experts use it for low intensity testing that is lower than one sun. For the steady illumination, it can use several lamps at a time.      

·         Flashed simulators – Also acknowledged as pulsed simulator, flashed simulators qualitatively equivalent to flash photography that uses flash tubes. With distinctive durations of many milliseconds, there is high possibility of several thousands of suns with very high intensity. Technicians use it prevent the buildup of unwanted heat in the device that is under a test. However, the light spectrum and intensity are inherently transient due to the lamp rapid heating and cooling. And this makes testing challenging.

Types of lamps

You know continuous simulators use multi-lamps. So, you should know the types of lamps used in testing. The lamp types are as follows:

·         Argon arc lamps

·         Carbon arc lamps

·         Light-emitting diodes (LED)

·         Metal Halide arc lamps

·         Quartz-tungsten halogen lamps (QTH lamps)

·         Xenon arc lamps

Summary

Solar sun simulators are highly beneficial. Before you get one, you should know its components, uses, features, and types. Having such information will help you choose the best one for your own need.