Low-Cost High-Sensitive Suns– $V_{\text{oc}}$ Measurement Instrument to Characterize c-Si Solar Cells

Measuring open-circuit voltage (V
_oc
) versus light intensity (Suns) in solar cells permits the access of cell performance without the series resistance effect. This article shows the implementation of a Suns-Voc measurement system that consists of an off-the-shelf photograph flash lamp, a digital oscilloscope, and a specifically designed photodetector board with three silicon photodiodes that covers a light intensity measurement range from 10
^-5
to 10
²
suns. The whole system is controlled via universal serial bus (USB) ports from a personal computer allowing the measurement of cell characteristics (pseudo-dark and pseudo-light current density-voltage curves, as well as the pseudo fill factor and pseudo efficiency) automatically in a very short time.