New Solar Cell Materials and ArchitecturesOne of the key applications for solar simulators is in the testing of solar cells – aka photovoltaic devices. Indeed, when ASTM subcom. One of the biggest changes in the new IEC 60904-9 standard is the introduction of the Class A+ classification, which raises the bar for the highest quality classification achievable by a solar simulator. Just as there have been. The first of the two new metrics introduced by IEC 60904-9 is spectral coverage (abbreviated as the acronym SPC in the standard). This quantity is the percentage of the spectrum between 300 nm and 1200 nm that is covere. Spectral deviation, or SPD, can be qualitatively understood as representing the total extent to which a solar simulator goes above or below the specified spectrum. This is defined mathematically as the sum of all the errors o. These 2 new metrics of Spectral Coverage and Spectral Deviation provide valuable and necessary tools for comparing and evaluating Class A/A+ solar simulators. As we've outlined in this article, not all Class A/A+ spectral ma.