Established in 2018, Avalon ST, a Neuchâtel, Switzerland-based LED sun-simulator maker, promoted its latest tools suitable for the Indian market at the recently concluded REI Expo 2024. The company presented 3 key offerings – the brand new Nexun Neo sun-simulator for mass-production, Nexun Mobile Lab for on-site panel testing, and Nexun Ultra for laboratory applications.
In a brief discussion with TaiyangNews, Damien Etienne, the founder of Avalon ST (see the company website), highlighted the Nexun Neo sun simulator for the Indian module manufacturing market and Nexun Mobile Lab for on-site panel testing.
Nexun Neo
This characterization tool, equipped with the proprietary Nexun technology-based LED light source, operates within a spectral range of 300 nm to 1,200 nm, simulates the Sun's spectrum from ultraviolet (UV) to infrared (IR) wavelengths. According to the company, the tool’s LED matrix can achieve a spectral match between +10% and -10% of the Sun’s spectrum, while maintaining light irradiance uniformity across the test area between +1% and -1%. Avalon ST has incorporated an in-built uniformity robot that self-adjusts the irradiance across the test area, ensuring consistent quality measurements. The light source emits long pulses ranging from 20 ms to 200 ms, enabling the characterization of high-capacitance cell technologies such as PERC and HJT in a single flash, emphasized the company. They also claimed that the tool provides maximum power (Pmax) measurement repeatability within ±0.05%, a significant improvement from the industry standard of ±0.2%.
Beyond quality measurement, the Nexun Neo offers a cycle time of less than 10 seconds, ensuring high-throughput production. This high throughput can also be attributed to the LED light source lifespan of up to 36 million flashes, minimizing the downtime generally associated with Xenon lamp replacement and lengthy uniformity adjustment, added Avalon ST. The tool maker also offers an optional dual light-source version for bifacial module characterization. This latest Nexun Neo A+A+A+ class model is certified by TÜV Rheinland according to the IEC 60904-9:2020 (Edition 3) standard. Notably, Avalon ST promises competitive pricing of this tool for the Indian market, comparable to Xenon lamp-based simulators. The company is ready to take orders for this characterization tool.
Nexun Mobile Lab
Avalon ST also promoted its TÜV Rheinland-verified Nexun technology-based Mobile Lab, a platform designed for on-site PV module characterizations, including IV measurement, electroluminescence (EL) imaging, and bypass diode checks. Priced at €79,000 (INR 72,68,790), this mobile lab is ideal for pre-installation PV module inspections or asset management during the operation & maintenance (O&M) phase. It features all the advanced capabilities of the Nexun Pro series sun-simulator and can test up to 60 modules per hour, according to the company. The lab, compatible with vans, trailers, or containers, will be commercially available worldwide by December 2024.