Pico™ Small Area LED Solar Simulator

With the variable spectrum add-on for the Pico, you gain the ability to individually adjust up to 32 LED channels (depending on the model). The spectral width of each LED varies, but a general rule of thumb is that the bandwidth is 10% of the peak wavelength in nm. For example, an LED with a peak at 400 nm has an approximate bandwidth of 40 nm, while a 1000 nm LED has an approximate bandwidth of 100 nm. Depending on your application, this LED bandwidth may be suitably monochromatic for testing specific wavelength dependencies.

I saw that the pictures on the official website are illuminated vertically. However, we need a light source in the horizontal direction.

The Pico comes with either an imperial or metric mounting plate, specified upon ordering, which allow for horizontal mounting. The imperial plate provides two ¼”-20 threaded holes separated by 4”, suitable for mounting to standard ½” optical posts and imperial optomechanical breadboards. The metric plate provides two M6 threaded holes separated by 100 mm, suitable for mounting to 12 mm optical posts and metric optomechanical breadboards. Be sure to specify your preferred configuration when ordering.

Any of the Pico models with “UV” in their name contain light from 350 nm to 400 nm. The advantage of this wavelength range is that it does not produce ozone; however, if you require UV light below 350 nm, we do not currently offer that in any of our products. If wavelengths below 350 nm are of interest to you, please let us know so we can prioritize in our ongoing product development roadmap.

There is a Python API for controlling the Pico through Python scripting, which allows for automation. The API provides the ability to turn channels on and off, load spectra, and more, without the need to use G2V’s graphical interface. For more detailed information and examples of methods and properties, visit the Python API’s repository on Github.

G2V Optics’ solar simulators are suitable for testing the following solar cell technologies: crystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, perovskite, multijunction, tandem, gallium arsenide (GaAs), cadmium telluride (CdTe), dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), organic photovoltaics (OPV), inorganic solar cells, quantum dots, copper-indium gallium selenide (CIGS), thin-film solar cells based on kusachiite (CuBi2O4), and most other thin-film, multicrystalline, concentrator and/or heterostructure solar cells.

The Pico can be used for testing multijunction devices, however, accurate testing requires proper validation for that specific design of the multijunction device. G2V is currently unable to validate the Pico for out-of-the-box performance and calibrated output for use with multijunction-based solar devices due to the lack of standardization among formulations and designs of these devices. Different junction designs will sample different portions of the solar spectrum as well as have their own spectral responsivities, potentially resulting in spatial non-uniformity and spectral mismatch characterization outside of the Class A standards for those junctions and spectral responsivities.

Thus G2V recommends that customers working with multijunction cells perform their own validation on-site in order to ensure their G2V product is performing to the customers’ desired standards for specific junctions.

If you are willing to submit a sample of your device that you are wanting to be tested prior to the purchase of a Pico, it is possible for G2V to calibrate a unit for that device for an extra fee.