In the Performance Lab of IMD-3, we focus on the electrical characterization of solar cells and modules under laboratory and field conditions (I/V curve monitoring), as well as large-scale irradiance modelling for yield prediction for a wide range of photovoltaic applications such as AgriPV (AgriPV facility in Morschenich), vehicle-integrated PV (VIPV), and building-integrated PV (BIPV). Historically, having originated from an institute for amorphous silicon semiconductors, we possess extensive expertise in thin-film solar cell characterization and modeling, which gives us a comprehensive understanding of defect formation and its impact on performance. We apply this knowledge to both thin-film technologies and wafer-based solar cells and modules.

As part of national and European projects, we develop software tools that use machine learning for the automatic classification of defects in electroluminescence (EL) images. Our approach includes state-of-the-art image preprocessing techniques, including perspective corrections, slicing, and data augmentation techniques.

A growing area of our work is handling large datasets (big data analysis), which also includes imaging defect analysis. In the VIPV sector, we optimize irradiation models using satellite, Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, and weather data. For example, we can calculate the solar yield for a vehicle (as a 3D object) on various routes.

As part of the campus-internal LLEC-Project , we develop and monitor innovative photovoltaic demonstrators on the research campus in Jülich. The goal is to install as much PV as possible at economical costs on our campus.