Introduction to the Status of Interlaboratory Comparison on Reference Photovoltaic Cell Calibration at Center for Measurment Standards in Taiwan

Proficiency testing is one of the ways to evaluate the participant performance against pre-established criteria by means of interlaboratory comparisons. Center for Measurement Standards / Industrial Technology Research Institute (CMS/ITRI) has been committed to measurement technologies and statistical engineering. Thus, CMS has established its renowned reputation in metrology in Taiwan. Quality Engineering Department (QED) which belongs to Measurement Standards & Legal Metrology Division at CMS/ITRI is one of the designated organizations by Taiwan Accreditation Foundation (TAF) to hold proficiency testing in calibration field and act as the pilot for this interlaboratory comparison. For the photovoltaic (PV) field, the key quantity in the calibration of reference PV cells or modules is the short-circuit current of the device generated by a reference solar radiation with 1 kW m-2 total irradiance and with IEC 60904-3 AM1.5G reference solar spectral irradiance distribution. This paper introduces the status of interlaboratory comparison on primary reference solar cell calibration, including selection of the reference laboratory and assigned value, statistical analysis on comparative results, and criteria for performance evaluation, etc. The comparison includes one reference laboratory and two participating laboratories individually belonging to AIST,CMS/ITRI and FMI. The calibration method is conformed to IEC 60904-4:2009. En numbers are used as the performance statistics described in ISO/IEC 17043:2010.