Konica Minolta Sensing Announces World First Dedicated Triple Junction Solar Reference Cell

Konica Minolta Sensing Americas, Inc. (KMSA) launched its AK-120/130/140 Photovoltaic (PV) Reference Cells, the world’s first triple junction solar reference cells.

Now available, the AK-120/130/140 is the latest addition to the AK Series of reference cells. KMSA first introduced its AK Series in 2010 at the SPIE Optics and Photonics conference to much industry excitement. Reference cells are used as a standard point of calibration to ensure consistent measurements of newly developed photovoltaic cells.

Developed in conjunction with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan, the AK-120/130/140 is the world first triple junction (top/middle/bottom) reference cell. The reference cell has been uniquely designed using an optical filter mounted on a stable crystalline silicon solar cell.

By employing Konica Minolta Sensing’s high-accuracy optical filter technology originally cultivated for color measuring instruments, spectral mismatch is greatly reduced. Spectral mismatch, which had been a major problem with conventional cells, can be suppressed to 1% or less even when evaluating solar cell performance using JIS C-8942 Class C solar
simulators.

The AK-120/130/140 is a completely integrated cell with connectors for I-V measurement as well as temperature measurement. The built-in temperature sensor can be connected to a commercially available temperature controlled stage to easily achieve and maintain the standard test condition of 25°C. Also included are the short-circuit current (Isc) values used for solar simulator adjustment.

In general, reference standard cells using optical filters have low durability against exposure to light, resulting in changes in characteristics due to continuous exposure to solar simulator light. AK Series Reference Cells have a high durability against exposure to light, greatly reducing solarization (changes in characteristics due to the effects of light exposure) and ensuring stability even when used over a long period of time.

Demand for green energy production and new higher efficiency materials continue to grow. As a global leader in measurement technology and instrumentation, Konica Minolta Sensing is further expanding its reach into this quickly growing market by using its expertise to quantify the results of these new materials and technologies.