Effective Low-Cost Hybrid LED-Halogen Solar Simulator

An effective low-cost hybrid solar simulator combining LED sources and a low-voltage halogen lamp to produce an output beam that can closely match a desired solar spectrum is proposed and analyzed in this paper. A summary of design and optimization procedure for spectral match is given, on the basis of the photometric values taken from data sheets and converted to the corresponding radiometric values. As an example of application, the output spectrum is preliminary compared with standard global terrestrial solar spectra air mass AM 1.5 for a test plane of 12.5 × 12.5 cm². The results of simulated spectra calculations and some experimental measurements on a hybrid LED-halogen solar simulator prototype are given. Experimental tests have shown the possibility of reaching the Class B of spectral matching with better than 5% spatial nonuniformity over a designed test area of 10 × 10 cm². The halogen lamp is properly chosen to cover the range of near-infrared (NIR) radiation, and the use of infrared diode emitters is avoided. The possibility to get a solar hybrid simulator having Class A for spectral match by adding few NIR diode emitters is also investigated.