Best practices for measuring the performance and stability of indoor photovoltaic devices

Chakraborty A, Lucarelli G, Singh V, Xu J, Skafi Z, Thakur D, Di Giacomo F, Shankar G, Calabrò E, De Rossi F, Almora O, Amiri P, Aramaki S, Bagnis D, Bannai T, Brabec C, Braga D, Burwell G, Brunetti F, Di Carlo A, Carnie M, Castriotta LA, Castro-Hermosa S, Ciocca M, Cui Y, Dagar J, Damien B, Dayneko SV, Doumon NY, Turkovic V, Forberich K, Freitag M, Gao F, Grancini G, Guo Z, Hamadani B, Hayes M, Hou J, Hoye RL, Jouin S, Jošt M, Kärhä P, Kauer M, Kirchartz T, Koutsourakis G, Kuge S, Lira-Cantu M, Mathews I, Madsen M, Auf der Maur M, Miyasaka T, Müller D, Priya S, Ratcliff EL, Reale A, Saidaminov MI, Sauvage F, Soman S, Tian Z, Topič M, Cabas Vidani A, Vivo P, Wang K, Wang Y, Wang ZK, Wojciechowski K, Würfel U, Xu X, Yaşa M, Yerci S, Zampetti A, Zhao K, Brown TM (2026)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2026

Journal

Book Volume: 11

Pages Range: 1241–1259

DOI: 10.1038/s41560-026-02101-x

Abstract

Indoor photovoltaics harvests energy from light available inside homes and buildings for powering the Internet of Things, wireless sensors and consumer and medical electronics. A major challenge in this field is a lack of standardized testing conditions. Here a team from more than 60 research institutions and companies proposes best practices for evaluating indoor photovoltaic performance and establishing baseline stability tests. We base these recommendations on recent experimental data, published literature, practices used in academic and industrial settings, technical specifications from standards organizations, lighting databases and existing regulations. We outline procedures that begin with the recommendation of a single artificial light source, followed by guidance on setting up measurement systems and a step-by-step guide for conducting measurements and tests. These procedures are consolidated into three checklists. Our aim is to promote accurate measurement of laboratory and commercial solar cells and modules under indoor lighting, facilitating comparability across academia and industry worldwide.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Università degli Studi di Roma 'Tor Vergata' Italy (IT) Solertix Srl Italy (IT) Halocell Australia (AU) Toin University of Yokohama / 桐蔭横浜大学 Japan (JP) PHD Semicon Brazil (BR) Fluxim AG Switzerland (CH) Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) Spain (ES) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) United States (USA) (US) Tyndall National Institute / Tyndall Institiúid Naisiunta Ireland (IE) Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) / 中国科学院 China (CN) University of Ljubljana (UL) / Univerza v Ljubljani Slovenia (SI) Swansea University United Kingdom (GB) Edith Cowan University Australia (AU) Fundación Escuela Tecnólogica de Neiva (FET) Colombia (CO) Free University of Bozen - Bolzano Italy (IT) Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB) Germany (DE) e-peas S.A. Belgium (BE) University of Victoria (UVic) Canada (CA) Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) United States (USA) (US) University of Southern Denmark / Syddansk Universitet Denmark (DK) Newcastle University United Kingdom (GB) Linköpings universitet / Linköping University Sweden (SE) Università degli Studi di Pavia Italy (IT) Kyushu University / 九州大学 Japan (JP) University of Oxford United Kingdom (GB) University of Picardie Jules Verne / Université de Picardie Jules Verne France (FR) Aalto University Espoo Finland (FI) Lightricity Ltd United Kingdom (GB) Forschungszentrum Jülich / Research Centre Jülich (FZJ) Germany (DE) Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) / Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Spain (ES) Sensai Analytics United States (USA) (US) Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme (ISE) / Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems Germany (DE) University of Minnesota (UMN) United States (USA) (US) National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) / നാഷണൽ ഇൻസ്ററിററ്യൂട്ട് ഫോർ ഇൻറർ ഡിസിപ്ളിനറി സയൻസ് അൻഡ് ടെക്നോളജി, തിരുവനന്തപുരം India (IN) University of Tampere (UTA) / Tampereen yliopisto (Tay) Finland (FI) Changzhou University (CZU) / 常州大学 China (CN) Soochow University, Suzhou / 苏州大学 China (CN) Saule Technologies / Saule Spółka Akcyjna Poland (PL) University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) China (CN) Middle East Technical University (METU) / Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Turkey (TR) Shaanxi Normal University (SNNU) / 陕西师范大学 China (CN)

How to cite

APA:

Chakraborty, A., Lucarelli, G., Singh, V., Xu, J., Skafi, Z., Thakur, D.,... Brown, T.M. (2026). Best practices for measuring the performance and stability of indoor photovoltaic devices. Nature Energy, 11, 1241–1259. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-026-02101-x

MLA:

Chakraborty, Abhisek, et al. "Best practices for measuring the performance and stability of indoor photovoltaic devices." Nature Energy 11 (2026): 1241–1259.

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