Silicon Irradiance Sensor

Opis

SILICON IRRADIANCE SENSOR

General Information

Mode of operation
A silicon solar cell can be used as an irradiance sensor, because the short-circuit
current is proportional to irradiance. Our sensors are build out of a monocrystalline
solar cell connected to a shunt. Due to the low resistance of the shunt the cell operates
next to short-circuit. The temperature coefficient of the short-circuit current creates a small error.
Therefore all of our silicon sensors with the extension „TC“ have an active temperature
compensation, which reduces this error by factor 20. The compensation is realized by
using a specific temperature sensor mounted to the rear side of the solar cell. The
electronic circuit integrated has a very low power consumption. The current consumption
of the SiS-13TC is only 90µA at an irradiance of 1000 W/m2. Our silicon sensors are manufactured
in several types with an external power supply, with different output signals and
with an optional sensor output for the cell temperature.

All sensors are calibrated in simulated sunlight against a reference cell of the same type. The reference cell is
periodically calibrated against a reference cell calibrated by Fraunhofer ISE, Freiburg.

Mechanical Construction
The solar cell is embedded in Ethylen- Vinyl-Acetat (EVA) between glass and Tedlar. The laminated cell is integrated into
a case of powder-coated aluminium. Therefore the sensor construction is comparable to that of a standard PV
module. The electrical connection is realized by a 3 m cable or a waterproof (IP67) connector.

Optional Temperature Measurement
Additionally to the irradiance measurement our silicon sensors with the extension “-T” are able to measure the temperature of
the solar cell. Therefore a temperature sensor is mounted to the rear side of the cell to detect the correct cell temperature.