Accurate color characterization of solar photovoltaic modules for building integration

Accurate and reproducible color characterization is essential for colored building integrated photovoltaic products, both for manufacturing quality control and assessing long-term color stability. However, existing characterization techniques struggle to accurately determine color when a surface is behind a transparent layer like a solar PV laminate. In this study, we compare different colorimetric techniques and propose an innovative colorimeter based on a fiber optic spectrometer and large area illumination to address this issue. Samples with varying transparent glass thicknesses and underlying colors are laminated and characterized using a scanner, an integrated sphere spectrometer, a commercial portable colorimeter, and the proposed large area illumination colorimeter. Results show that common scanners produce darker images and inaccurate color determination due to light losses in the glass. As glass thickness increases, reflectance decreases with the integrated sphere spectrometer and portable colorimeter. However, the large area illumination colorimeter exhibits only minimal signal reduction. High reflective foils experience more reflectance reduction with thicker glass than low reflective ones. All devices yield comparable results without the glass layer. The large area illumination colorimeter, compensating for light losses, proves to be a suitable solution for accurately measuring color under glass laminates using reflected light. For example, it reduces the color change from 57 (commercial portable colorimeter) to only 3 for an ivory colored glass laminate. This innovative tool has the potential to improve color characterization in building integrated photovoltaic products, enabling better manufacturing quality control and assessment of long-term color stability.