Industry - Material Testing and Weathering

Solar Simulator for Materials Testing

Accurately assess long-term solar effects

Solar Simulation Trusted By These Companies

Reliable solar degradation testing through the entire life cycle

You’re developing novel materials and products that improve our quality of life. Whether it’s in packaging, plastics, electronics, polymers, coatings, construction or aerospace, you need to make sure the material will last.

You don’t have the luxury of spending 25 years to wait and see. You need accelerated weathering and photodegradation tests that accurately represent the environmental degradation your material will experience in the real world.

Chemical degradation is very specific to the environmental conditions, the materials involved, as well as how they’re processed. A big component in any degradation study is also the reliability and consistency of the light source used for testing.

G2V’s specialized LED solar simulators are built with the longest-lived light sources of any lamp (guaranteed for 10,000 hours and longer compared to 1,000 hours for typical xenon and metal halide), and are designed specifically for long-term spectral reliability, as well as exceptional spectral match. Whether you’re working on lab tests or final large-scale product validation, our lights will provide the consistency you need.

Featured Innovations

The Most Advanced Technology For Your Cutting Edge Research

You’re building something great. Our solar replication technologies mean you don’t have to worry about accurate light.

Small form factor to work with your other systems
Connect to LAN or Wi-Fi networks and control it from the comfort of a web browser
Intensity and wavelength control to investigate key spectral sensitivities
One-Click Sun (beta) optional module replicates the solar irradiance of any place on Earth

Get high-quality solar simulation that fits with your setup.

How a 4-Sun Solar Simulator Accelerates Testing

Shining the regular sun’s intensity won’t always give you the rapid data and info you need on your materials. You need higher-intensities without sacrificing stability and reliability. G2V built a 4-Sun LED solar simulator, one of if not the highest intensity device using this technology, so you can have the benefits of LED technology while achieving high-intensity accelerated testing.

Our 4-Sun Solar Simulator article looks at:

The challenges of lamp-based multi-sun systems
The results achieved by our LED-based 4-sun system
The technological innovations that have brought the system to fruition

Featured Innovation

The Sunbrick Large-Area Solar Simulator

Better testing illuminates the future with higher-quality predictions.

You’re looking to conduct long-term testing and need a solution that will be unflappable throughout. Our Class AAA Sunbrick was designed to minimize the load on each LED in order to maximize their lifetime.

Along the way, you might need to probe specific spectral signatures. The Sunbrick’s 36-channel tunability will give you that freedom.

Some of the features include:

Low LED drive currents to maximize lifetime
Up to 36 software-tunable spectral channels
Tileable into arbitrary array sizes for scalability

The Sunbrick is the stable support tool that will be there, with flexibility to scale.

How the Pico Enabled Glove Box Light Testing

Problem: A researcher needed to evaluate light-induced surface modifications of inorganic materials deposited on a substrate. Because these materials were sensitive to oxidation, they needed to be manipulated and tested in an inert atmosphere alongside other tools and equipment.

Innovation: G2V provided them with the Pico small-area solar simulator that has a small device footprint suitable for placement and work in a glove box or fume hood environment.

Outcome: The researcher was able to add solar load testing to their complement of material assessment tools. The Pico’s network control functions and python integration allowed them to configure the light output remotely for specific periods of irradiation time, reducing the need to continuously manipulate their samples inside the glove chamber. Thus, they were able to characterize their delicate materials without significantly impacting their existing lab and testing setup.

G2V's FAQs

Do I have to reveal proprietary information to get the right solar simulator?

No, we don’t need to know about your proprietary tech, and are willing to sign an NDA if needed. We’ll ask you a few questions about the dimensions (both area and volume) you’re trying to illuminate, as well as what your most important specifications are, but we’ll respect your confidentiality while still delivering an excellent solar simulator.

How hot do the LEDs get on your solar simulators? How much excess thermal energy will I have to dissipate in my device under test (DUT)?

The LED junction temperatures reach maximum temperatures in the realm of 70 C – 100 C (and that’s only at max current). This thermal energy is in a small area and it’s dissipated through our sophisticated cooling systems. The net result is that the actual LED card operates closer to 30 C – 40 C, so the excess thermal radiation from the heat of the light source is quite minimal, and not something you have to worry about for most applications. Unlike xenon or metal halide lamps, LEDs are very efficient at producing the desired radiation at the wavelengths of interest, without burdening you with the added challenges of having to manage excess heat in your samples. If you’ve traditionally used xenon or metal halide lamps in your testing, LEDs will be a paradigm shift.

Can I use your solar simulators to complement outdoor testing?

No – our solar simulators are designed for indoor use only. However, their tunability means they can produce any outdoor spectrum under laboratory conditions.

What is the Class A spatially uniform area in the Sunbrick?

While a single Sunbrick’s total illumination covers 25 cm x 25 cm, we guarantee a Class A spatially uniform area in a 20 cm x 20 cm square. For arrays, the Class A area will be dependent on the array size, and scales along with the array. If you require a larger class A area, please get in contact and we can discuss some options for meeting your needs.

Do you do UVC degradation testing?

Not currently. UVC (UV-C or Ultraviolet-C) radiation refers to wavelengths between 100 nm and 285 nm. While producing these wavelengths using LED technology is possible, it is currently inefficient and under ongoing research, making it cost-prohibitive to currently do this type of testing with LEDs. However, G2V continually monitors LED material developments and is very interested in designing a solar simulator with this capability once it becomes more commercially viable, so stay in touch if this is of interest to you in the future.

Do your solar simulators produce ozone?

No. Ozone production requires UV radiation less than 240 nm in wavelength, and our solar simulators do not produce radiation in this range.

Knowledge Base

Our Expertise. Your Home Base.

We make sure that our customers have access to resources that help them understand more not only about the products we offer, but related applications and standards. Visit the knowledge base to learn more about LED illumination, Class AAA standards, Photovoltaics and much more. Knowledge is solar power.

IEC 60904-9:2020 Standard for Solar Simulators

In our modern era, nearly every industry has standards that set baselines for ensuring its associated products are safe and suitable to perform intended tasks. Solar simulation – reproducing sunlight – is no different, having standards that specify the requirements for solar simulators, and...

G2V and NREL collaborate to Validate LED Solar Simulators and improve Multi-Junction Testing

Solar Simulation

Talk to a Light-Testing Expert About Weathering Your Materials

Direct light. Indirect light. Full spectrum exposure. Lightfastness. Resistance to corrosion. Environmental sustainability. Regardless of the end goals of your photodegradation testing, we want to give you a robust solution that’s far more reliable than outdoor testing, and far less expensive than having to ship and test your device in climates around the world.

We’ve only hinted at the many ways our solar simulators can support the detailed, rigorous testing you need. We’d love to get in touch to discuss the details, because we’re as excited about getting accurate, representative testing as you are.