Welcome to the AMOLF solar field located in Science Park, Amsterdam. Established in 2016, this project brings current photovoltaic technology to the forefront of AMOLF research and to the Amsterdam public.
What is the AMOLF Solar Field?
At AMOLF, we collect data on the performance of six types of commercially available solar panels, each with their own unique characteristics:
- Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS), a flexible module; nominal efficiency 12.7% specs
- Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), a lower cost module; nominal efficiency 12.0% specs
- Polycrystalline Silicon (Poly-Si), the most commonly used technology; nominal efficiency 15.5% specs
- Interdigitated Back Contact monocrystalline silicon, charge extraction located at the back of the cell; nominal efficiency 21.5% specs
- Heterojunction Intrinsic Layer Monocrystalline Silicon (HIT Si), highest lab-tested efficiency; nominal efficiency 19.4% specs
- Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) with reflective backing; nominal efficiency 14.7% specs
In addition to monitoring the power, current, module temperature, and other parameters from the solar panels themselves, AMOLF also has a weather station plus a solar spectrometer and pyranometer to measure incoming solar radiation.
Completed projects
- The Correlation between Temperature and Properties of Solar Panels
2 week BSc project, Sliem el Ela and Tjardo Grotendorst, University of Amsterdam (2018) - Outdoor solar cell performance: improving a diffuseness measurement tool
BSc thesis, Merlijn Kersten, Amsterdam University College (2018) - The effect of light diffuseness on the outdoor performance of thin film solar cells
BSc thesis, Toon Maassen, University of Amsterdam (2017) - Scientifically measuring light diffuseness in a cost-effective way
2 weeks BSc project, Jelle Conijn and Amanda van Hemert, University of Amsterdam (2017) - The general working of solar cells and the correlation between diffuseness and temperature, irradiance and spectral shape
2 week BSc project, Thomas Kalkman and Max Verweg, University of Amsterdam (2017) - The dirt on solar energy: a study of Dutch solar panel efficiency losses from soiling
BSc thesis, Talia Martz-Oberlander, Quest University Canada (2017) - Shading of solar cells
Highschool project, Susanne Gooijer and Lisanne van Dijk, Cygnus Gymnasium Amsterdam (2016) - Influence of the sun position on the efficiency and Shockley-Queisser limit of solar panels
2nd year BSc project, Marjolein Gelauff and Ilja van Voorst, University of Amsterdam (2016) - Dutch solar cell performance
BSc thesis, Ruby de Hart, Amsterdam University College (2016)
What are we using it for?
Data in three forms (weather, solar radiation, module parameters) are collected every five minutes and stored on internal servers. Researchers at AMOLF investigate the behaviour of these panels, and we are also opening up this raw data for public use (see download link below). Available Data:1. Weather
• Average temperature (oC)
• Dewpoint (oC)
• Humidity (%)
• Air pressure (hPA)
• Air density (kg/m3)
• Wind speed (km/h)
• Wind direction (o)
• Wind measurement quality (%)2. Solar radiation
• Sensor temperature
• Wavelength (nm)
• Irradiance (W/m2/µm)3. Module Parameters (for each of the six panel types)
• Voltage at maximum power point (mpp) (V)
• Current at mpp (A)
• Power at mpp (W)
• Open circuit voltave (Voc) (V)
• Closed circuit current (Isc) (A)
• Fill factor (%)
• G temperature of pyranometer (oC)
• Module temperature (oC)
• G_pyranometer irradiance (W/m2)
• Voltage range (s/sec)
• Current range (s/sec)
• Scan rate
Download measured data: TBD
The data is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please acknowledge AMOLF when using the data.Disclaimer:
There are at times situational occurrences, such as construction, which affect the data collection. Therefore, while we attempt to note these events in our data uploads, we cannot guarantee that we note all possible effects or anomalies.
The data is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please acknowledge AMOLF when using the data.Disclaimer:
There are at times situational occurrences, such as construction, which affect the data collection. Therefore, while we attempt to note these events in our data uploads, we cannot guarantee that we note all possible effects or anomalies.