Effects of a neutral density filter in measuring low-light performance with a pulsed light Xe arc solar simulator

Pulsed light Xe arc lamps are commonly used for categorizing PV module performance indoors. Two methods for controlling the overall light intensity from a Xe arc lamp are compared in this work: (1) adjustment of the current applied through the Xe arc lamp and (2) implementation of a 50 percent neutral density filter (NDF). Performance measurements are made at multiple irradiances from 100 to 1000 W/m² on a c-Si and a CdTe module using unfiltered and a KG3 filtered c-Si reference cell. The test modules´ deviations from a linear response are categorized to observe the potential measurement error introduced when conducting performance tests at low irradiance.