The design of a more accurate, higher fidelity dual source air mass zero solar simulator

A dual source solar simulator has been designed that provides a more accurate, higher fidelity spectral match to the Air Mass Zero (AMO) solar spectrum in comparison to presently available conventional and state-of-the-art solar simulators. The dual source solar simulator design combines the ultraviolet (UV) light from a xenon arc lamp and the visible and infrared (IR) light from a tungsten lamp using standard wide band hot and cold mirrors. However, additional filtering is required to match the dual source and AMO spectra. It was determined that the required transmission function can not be meet with a single filter, but separate filtering of the individual sources was necessary. A standard color glass filter has been chosen to both change the shape of the xenon UV spectrum and reduce the magnitude of the high intensity spikes in the visible and IR wavelengths. A custom thin film filter was designed to meet the required transmission function of the visible and IR portions of the tungsten light. The combined, filtered spectra provides a more accurate spectral distribution and integral energy match to the AMO spectrum over the entire wavelength range while completely removing the common high intensity xenon arc lamp spikes. The design is presented by comparing conventional solar simulators, identifying the limitations posed by the presence of spikes in the xenon are lamp spectrum, analyzing each of the separate components of the design and their system impacts, and concluding with additional options or variations that may improve the accuracy range of the dual source solar simulator.