To help in the development of the next generation of photovoltaic materials, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Physical Measurement Laboratory have developed a new solar simulator, which they claim is “near-perfect” to the real deal. Until now engineers have made use of xenon arc lamps to test photovoltaic materials, which as you can guess isn’t the best way to test solar panels, as they emit dispersed light which is difficult to focus on the PV material.

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