The CalLab PV Modules calibration laboratory of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has reached a new record for accuracy of 1.3 percent in the measurement of solar modules. The repeatability of the measurements is 0.4 percent. The values were confirmed by the German Accreditation Body (Deutscher Akkreditierungsstelle, DakkS).

In a current interlaboratory comparison of four reference laboratories, the ISE CalLab also achieved significantly better results than in the last comparison carried out in 2014. For the intercomparison, two crystalline standard and two high-efficiency modules were measured successively by four international reference laboratories. In addition to the ISE CalLab, these included the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission, the Japanese Research Center for Photovoltaics of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The parameters short-circuit current, open-circuit voltage, maximum power and fill factor were analyzed. In the subsequent remeasurement in the CalLab, the deviation of the values was within a range of a maximum of 0.9 percent of the reference value, and in some cases only 0.2 percent for high-efficiency modules. In the previous comparison, the deviation was up to 1.3 percent. The JRC publishes the results in the October issue of the Solar Energy magazine.