Simulate a ‘Sun’ for Solar Research : A Literature Review of Solar Simulator Technology

The solar simulator is the key facility for indoor research of solar PV cells, solar heat collectors, space craft and CSP systems. This paper classifies the four types of solar simulators based on their characteristics and their design objects: space solar simulator, standard PV cell testing solar simulator, collector testing solar simulator and high-flux solar simulator. The review of solar simulator developments is mainly based on the developments of light sources and optical concentrators. The light source is the most important component for a solar simulator design; carbon arc lamp, metal halide arc lamp, quartz tungsten halogen lamp, xenon arc lamp, mercury xenon lamp, argon arc lamp and light-emitting diode lamp (LED) are used to be chosen as the light sources to meet the various requirements for the design objects. The optical concentrator is another key component; ellipsoidal reflector, compound parabolic concentrator (CPC), light cone, hyperboloid concentrator, parabolic dish concentrator and Fresnel lens are also reviewed in this paper. Finally, the near future developments of these four type solar simulators are discussed based on the requirements of research and the available technology of light sources and optical concentrators.QC 20141017