HAST testing solar cells and photovoltaic modules is an emerging application of Highly Accelerated Stress Testing that allows PV manufacturers to qualify new cell technologies under accelerated moisture and thermal stress. Hirayama HAST chambers distributed by Hastest Solutions in North America provide the precise pressure, temperature, and humidity control required for PV module qualification.

HAST Testing Solar Cells and Photovoltaic Modules

News Release, San Jose, CA

Don’t Just Test it -…………HAST it
……And when your testing time is critical,
Accelerate it……speed it up by a factor of 10.

Almost every product needs to be tested for long term viability and the time-to-market invariably is always short – so what do you do? You accelerate the test.

And how do you accelerate this test? By utilizing the internationally acclaimed Highly Accelerated Stress Test Chamber, also known as HAST Chamber made by HIRAYAMA.

HAST has been an integral part of most all testing of Materials; be it Semiconductors, Solar Cells, Photovoltaics, Ceramic, Glass, Rubber, Paper, Polymer, Wood, Laminates, LCD’s, Etc. for the past 50 years or so.

And HAST is a vital part of the Reliability Test program under which the temperature and humidity parameters are exercised. In standard environmental testing, the resistance to humidity conditions are generally tested much below 100 °C while HAST or PCT [Pressure Cooker test] is performed at Temperatures of over 110 °C together with a very high density of water vapor leading to Humidity test conditions of over 65 % RH.

The HAST/PCT Chamber creates an atmosphere inside the chamber whereby the difference in water vapor conditions [Pressurized HOT Steam] inside the test materials and outside of the test materials are very high. This condition is used to check the resistance to humidity conditions of the test material under high temperatures.

When you need to test the long-term survivability of a product, or simply need to get to market faster, accelerated testing methodology using the HAST/PCT chamber is the obvious answer. It is a crucial part of a complete reliability testing program, via the accelerated testing technology using HIRAYAMA HAST Chamber, the latest Model PC-422R8.

Please go to www.hastest.com for a more detailed analysis/description/specifications of these extremely powerful systems for testing Solar Cells, Photovoltaics, Ceramics, Glass, Polymers, Wood, and almost any Material using the HAST Chamber.

Hastest Solutions is the leader in providing Environmental Test Chamber Technology and Solutions to a number of industries which include materials such as: Solar, Ceramics, Glass, Paper & Pulp, Rubber, Semiconductors, Laminates, Polymer, Wood, etc.

For more information, see our guide on Hirayama HAST chambers available from Hastest Solutions.