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Environmental Simulation Systems

Solexel Incorporated, Global Headquarters and Research FacilityMilpitas, California, U.S.A.

SUV-W161 Installation for Photovoltaic research and development

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  • Smart Micro systems established by Lorain County Community College in Ohio is providing UV irradiation service to outside clients with the use of SUV-W161.

  • ELINA installed its own SUV-W161 in the Applied Optics Laboratory in November, 2015.

  • Renewable Energy Test Center, Fremont, CA is providing UV irradiation service to outside clients with the use of SUV-W161.

  • View of Solexel's Milpitas, CA headquarters.

  • Photograph of lightweight and flexible thin wafer silicon photovoltaic cell from Solexel.

  • EYE Super UV Tester SUV-W161 installed at Solexel.

about

Installation date

October, 2015

The EYE Applied Optics group is expanding the use of the IWASAKI SUV-W161 material testing business in North America. This began with the installation of an SUV-W161 in August, 2011 at SMART Microsystems, a business incubator attached to Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio. SMART Microsystems is staffed by professionals with electronics and material testing backgrounds, and offers the use of its SUV-W161 to interested companies for paid trial evaluation. This service has been utilized by many of the leading paint, materials, and electronics companies based in the United States. Another SUV-W161 was installed in California's "Silicon Valley" in July 2012 at the Renewable Energy Test Center (RETC) in Fremont. RETC is an accredited test facility that focuses on photovoltaic industry customers worldwide. Their SUV-W161 has been operated almost continuously since its installation. ELINA completed installation of its own SUV-W161 in December, 2015 and is using the asset for internal testing, and for external customers. The SUV-W161 testing activity is resulting in sales to North American customers like Solexel, Incorporated. Milpitas, California based Solexel has been pioneering crystalline silicon based photovoltaic (PV) technology, and has developed the world's highest-performance thin wafer silicon solar PV cells. The Solexel PV cells may be combined into lightweight, flexible PV modules that are perfect for installation on weight constrained rooftops. Their modules may be direct mounted to the roof eliminating the need for expensive racking resulting in a lower cost installation for the customer. Solexel had previously purchased solar simulation equipment from Applied Optics, and had utilized the SUV-W161 testing service provided by RETC. Solexel acquired and installed its own SUV-W161 in October, 2015 based on their experiences at RETC and with Applied Optics. The SUV-W161 allows companies like Solexel to rapidly test various material formulations and prototypes of PV modules. The PV industry is working toward an extended PV module life of up to 30 years, and Solexel is well positioned to meet the long term product life goals.

Specification

  • EYE SUPER UV TESTER SUV-W161 (North America)