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Solar Power

Solar energy technologies, which harness the sun’s energy to generate electrical power, are some of the fastest growing sources of renewable energy on the market today. Around the world, engineers and scientists are collaborating to lower the material costs of solar cells, increase their production efficiency, and create innovative products and applications based on photovoltaic and solar thermal collector technology. National Instruments offers a complete platform of tools and technologies that facilitate and increase the productivity of these efforts.

Photovoltaic Solar Cell Measurements and Characterization Testing

NI virtual instrumentation technology provides simpler, faster ways to perform photovoltaic device output performance tests, such as current-voltage (I-V) characterization. NI PXI source measure units (SMUs) offer high-resolution four-quadrant outputs with built-in current and voltage measurement for high-speed automated test systems or lab research. In addition, you can connect NI LabVIEW to any third-party GPIB-based instrument to automate your photovoltaic measurements.

Electrical Power Monitoring for Photovoltaic Modules and Power Plants

NI instrumentation and embedded monitoring tools can help you monitor, analyze, and improve the performance of your solar power generation systems. Whether you want to characterize the performance of a single photovoltaic module under outdoor operating conditions or monitor and improve the efficiency of a large industrial photovoltaic plant using a permanently installed embedded monitoring system, NI technology can help.

Photovoltaic Semiconductor Fabrication Process Control

To meet the advanced semiconductor manufacturing needs of the solar cell manufacturing industry, NI programmable automation controllers (PACs) provide an appealing combination of traditional programmable logic controller (PLC) ruggedness with PC functionality under open, flexible software architecture. With these controllers, you can build advanced systems incorporating software capabilities such as advanced control, communication, data logging, and signal processing with rugged hardware performing logic, motion, process control, and vision.