Sandia Labs’ Photovoltaic Systems Evaluation Lab (PSEL) Marks Accomplishments & Adds Capabilities

Home to the New Mexico Regional Test Center (RTC), PSEL’s outdoor laboratory has also received many equipment upgrades built on recent site upgrades. For example, common PV racking has been installed to accommodate up to 100 kW of new PV installations. Dubbed the Fastrack, the new installation was designed to accept PV modules of all common form factors to enable rapid deployment of systems from new RTC partners. In addition, general racking space totaling 80 kW has been installed to support PSEL’s R&D projects in bifacial and CIGS module technologies. With the rapid growth in PV installations, PSEL has become a net exporter of electricity and electrical grid-tie capacity has become strained. To address this, PSEL is partnering with Sandia’s own facilities department to install new, dedicated grid-tie capacity to enable upwards of 500 kW of additional PV.