The Cell and Module Performance Lab at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory provides cell and module measurement services to the global photovoltaics (PV) community and has done so for the past three decades. In recent years there have been extraordinary changes in the PV community and the needs of the Cell and Module Performance Lab’s clients have changed as well. 

In response to these changes the Cell and Module Performance Lab will implement the following fee structure for all cell and module measurements beginning October 1, 2016:  

  • U.S.-based universities, national laboratories, and DOE SunShot-funded projects will be charged an assessment fee of $250 per sample type with a limit of 5 samples per assessment fee. The assessment fee will cover the costs of assessing the requirements of the device measurement relative to measurement tools and allocating resources for the measurement. The cost of the measurement itself and subsequent calibration report will continue to be supported by funds that SunShot provides directly to the Cell and Module Performance Lab. 
  • All other customers will be charged a fee that includes the cost of assessment plus the cost to perform the requested testing and generation of the calibration report. Rates will vary depending on the test and type of sample. For reference, some examples of all-in costs for measurements would be:
    • $1,767 for standard current-voltage (IV) and quantum efficiency (QE) measurement of a single junction cell;
    • $2,277 for a 1-sun module up; and
    • $5,865 for a concentrator cell with more than 3 junctions.

An online measurement request and payment system that provides a directory of services and rates is being developed to help this transition and will be available in the near future.

Learn more about NREL’s photovoltaic research.