Facility - Spectral Unit
Quite recently (February 2009) the facility has been upgraded with two spectroradiometers by EKO 
(MS710 and MS712) for field measurements of solar spectral irradiance in the range 350 – 1,700 nm. The two instruments have been located on a horizontal plane in the solar- weather unit. The MS-710 is provided with a CMOS sensor that can measure spectral irradiance in the range 350 – 1,050 nm, while the MS-712 has an InGaAs sensor that provides measurements in the range 900 – 1,700 nm. The spectral resolution is < 7.5 nm, the wavelength accuracy is ±1.5 nm with a cosine error < 5%. The two spectra are merged with a dedicated software so that the final spectral irradiance is in the range 350 – 1,700 nm. Both instruments are suitable for field measurements and do not require particular maintenance or protection to the weather conditions. The spectral intensity is collected by optical diffuser protected by a glass dome. A shutter can control the exposition time on a grating that separate the wavelength components, the spectral intensity is then measured by a photodiode array. Data acquisition is controlled by a CR1000 that collects the spectra every 10 minutes and stores them in the database.
