We have a new video featuring our Unisim Compact solar simulator which gives a guided tour of the system as well as some of the optional extras that can be fitted during manufacture.

The video also covers the concept of using the Unisim Compact solar simulator as a simplified 4-zone solar simulator. For more information on this, or how the LED boost zones work, see our technical note here.

Click the image opposite to see the video, or watch it on the Unisim Comact solar simulator product page.

A new update for our TSIV IV measurement software is available to download via the link below. The full installer version will be updated soon and available on the main IV measurement software page.

Updates:

- Isc and Voc are now estimated at beginning of automatic sweep to define sweep parameters.

- Isc and Voc are now interpolated from the main IV sweep and not separate single point measurements.

- VFwd and IL are now interpolated from the main IV sweep and not separate single point measurements.

- Fixed a bug when sweeping amps that would hang if OVP was triggered before retrieving data from SMU.

We have been busy improving our in-house outgassing test facility by moving our equipment to its own, dedicated room. Demand has been exceptionally high for our outgassing test services in 2016 so if you are looking to book a test, the earlier you can let us know of your requirement the easier it will be for us to schedule your test.

At TS-Space Systems we have over 30 years of experience in vacuum physics along with a fully kitted laboratory. If you have a custom test requirement or need a consultant service to design or advise on your test, we can help.

We can accommodate most requirements for thermal vacuum and thermal cycling tests with a range of pre, post and in-situ measurements available. Full digital logs of temperature, pressure and RGA data are also available on request.

We can be involved from the design stages of your test through to execution and reporting, or if you prefer to set it up yourself we can accommodate technician visits for the setup and retrieval of samples.

If you have a custom requirement that you'd like to discuss with us, please contact us and we'll be happy to help.

We are in the process of upgrading our outgassing test facilities. The addition of a new RGA, automated pump-down and temperature control systems will increase through-put and reduce waiting times for our outgassing test customers.
We will also be offering post-test reflectance measurements of the collector plates to provide more detailed information where optical system contamination is a concern.
Please see our website for more details or contact us for availability.

We would like to announce a new vacuum UV test facility at TS-Space Systems. The system consists of a high-vacuum chamber, multi-ported,
equipped with deuterium and xenon sources for accelerated ageing.
The specimen to be irradiated is mounted on a temperature-controlled platen,which, in turn is mounted on a XYZ J manipulator. Provision is made for the measurement of emissivity and absorptance without breaking vacuum and at the operating temperature.

TS-Space Systems is proud to have supplied a Unisim Solar Simulator to NEC Space Technologies, LTD. a world leader in the manufacture and testing of satellite equipment.

The Unisim close match solar simulator provides a world leading close spectral match to the standard AM0 spectrum via multiple discrete wavebands which is vital for accurately characterising the multijunction solar cells used for space applications.

"We are very pleased to work with NEC Space Technologies LTD again", said Dr Bill Williams, Director at TS-Space Systems, "We are proud to add NEC Space Technologies LTD. to the long list of leading PV research and manufacturing groups who have selected our solar simulators for their work".

There is an important update available for our IV measurement software.

Existing users can patch their current version by downloading the patch linked opposite and extracting the contents to their TSIV software directory. We recommend backing up your existing software directory prior to doing this.

Update List

- VL/IL groups can now be negative integers.
- IL(mA) group values can now be specified to one decimal place accuracy.
- VFwd and IFwd have been reversed in terms of source/measure. The user now specifies the value of IFwd and the corresponding VFwd value is measured.
- Measurement settle time operation has been simplified. Using the previous configuration it was possible to increase the delay time to the point of causing the sweep procedure to fail. Measurement settle time is now either on/off using the internal auto delay and a manual offset which is limited to 0.4s maximum.