Freiburg/ Cologne, December 3rd, 2012

. At the 9th Photovoltaic Module Technology Workshop in Cologne, Germany PSE AG presented the newly developed test stand, Degratest Labtool. This innovative test stand determines the light induced degradation effect (LID effect) of silicon solar cells. The testing technology monitors and records degradation effects, and offers manufacturers and research institutions a fast and reliable tool for testing and developing solar cells.

Degratest Labtool comes with an electronically controlled metal halide lamp, which produces artificial light close to the sun’s spectrum. The heating of the test area is realized via a high precision temperature controller and can be adjusted from 10°C to 220°. To determine the LID effect, the test stand first generates a defined initial state of the cells to be tested (annealing). Testers use the graphical user interface to select radiation intensity and temperature. The test stand records all important parameters such as radiation, temperature, measured voltage and temperature-corrected voltage during the test and instantly creates a graph of the results.

Degratest Labtool can simultaneously test up to four solar cells with a maximum size of 160x160mm²; this allows, for example, for simultaneous quality testing of different passivation layers, or for comparison of different silicon materials.The test stand was developed by the International Solar Research Center (ISC) in Constance, Germany. Rudolf Harney, Director of the Department of Industrial Solar Cells at ISC Constance is very pleased: “At ISC, we are using this test stand round the clock. We are proud that, thanks to our cooperation with PSE AG, one of our product developments will soon be used by institutes and module manufacturers.”Link to spec sheet: www.pse.de/Degratest_Leaflet_low.pdf