The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bengaluru-based NexPV Energy Systems to design and develop India’s first Sun simulator for concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) systems. The new facility will enable manufacturers to test and characterise CPV modules at the end of production lines in India. Currently, the country does not have dedicated testing infrastructure for these specialised solar modules. The project is being facilitated by Invariance Automation, a member company of IIT Kanpur’s Research and Technology Park Foundation (Technopark@IITK).
IIT Kanpur Leads CPV Testing Infrastructure Project
Professor Ashish Garg and his team from IIT Kanpur’s Department of Sustainable Energy Engineering are leading the Sun simulator project. The initiative forms part of IIT Kanpur’s research into clean-energy technologies that can progress from laboratory development to commercial manufacturing. At the same time, it supports Technopark@IITK’s efforts to strengthen industry-academia collaboration and indigenous technology development. Prof. Garg said India’s net-zero commitment requires solar deployment on a much larger scale. Therefore, he highlighted the need to develop domestic capabilities across the solar value chain, including reliable testing infrastructure. He noted that CPV modules operate differently from conventional flat-plate solar panels. As a result, they require specialised testing systems to accurately measure their performance.
CPV Technology Uses High-Efficiency Solar Cells
Unlike conventional photovoltaic panels, concentrated photovoltaic systems use optical lenses to focus sunlight onto small, highly efficient multi-junction solar cells. These multi-junction cells contain several semiconductor layers, with each layer capturing a different portion of the solar spectrum. Consequently, CPV systems can achieve high conversion efficiency while significantly reducing the amount of semiconductor material required. The solar cells occupy only around 0.1% of the corresponding solar collection area, potentially reducing cell requirements by more than 99% compared with conventional solar panels.
NexPV Advances Indigenous CPV Technology
NexPV Energy Systems, led by Chidananda Murthy R, has developed indigenous CPV technology. The company’s proof-of-concept systems have operated in the field for around three years, and NexPV is now preparing to scale up manufacturing. According to Murthy, CPV technology can create new opportunities for solar deployment in regions with high direct normal irradiance (DNI). He also highlighted the potential for CPV systems to use significantly less cell area and, in NexPV’s systems, approximately half the land required by conventional solar installations.
Simulator to Replicate CPV Operating Conditions
Existing Sun simulators primarily support conventional flat-plate photovoltaic modules. However, CPV modules require different testing conditions because they operate with direct, parallel sunlight and accept light within a very narrow angle. In addition, CPV performance depends strongly on the spectral balance of the simulated sunlight. Therefore, the IIT Kanpur team will develop a specialised simulator capable of accurately reproducing these operating conditions. The system will provide manufacturers with an important quality-assurance tool for evaluating CPV modules during production.
From Prototype to Commercial Manufacturing
Once developed, the Sun simulator could help bridge the gap between CPV research and commercial-scale manufacturing in India. In the next phase, Invariance Automation is expected to serve as the preferred manufacturing partner for transitioning the simulator from prototype development to production. As reported by pv-magazine-india.com, by establishing domestic CPV testing infrastructure, the project aims to support indigenous solar technology development, improve manufacturing quality assurance and facilitate the scale-up of concentrated photovoltaic systems in India.
