We're expanding and upgrading Australia’s solar PV outdoor research and testing facilities

Understanding how solar technologies behave in outdoor conditions is essential for improving performance, reliability and long-term value. Real-world testing is a necessary complement to indoor laboratory tests, which cannot fully reproduce the complexity of actual operating environments, including temperature swings, wind, humidity and daily solar and thermal cycling. 

“If Australia wants to stay at the forefront of solar innovation, we must expand and consolidate our outdoor testing capabilities,” says Dr Chris Fell, ACAP Technical Lead and Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO Energy.

“We need facilities that can test performance and durability under real Australian conditions, evaluate advanced diagnostic tools, and make high-quality data broadly available. This is essential for translating lab breakthroughs into reliable, bankable technologies.”

Against this backdrop, ANU, UNSW and CSIRO are developing plans to build an ecosystem of outdoor testing facilities for all ACAP researchers, and across sites with different climate zones. ANU has progressed its outdoor testing facility that supports emerging technologies; while UNSW is working hard to create an outdoor testing site in Manly, funded internally and through an ACAP collaborative project; and another at the Desert Knowledge Centre in Alice Springs, with initial funding from ARENA.

However, the most significant expansion in 2025 of outdoor testing capacity was a substantial upgrade of CSIRO’s PV Outdoor Research Facility in Newcastle, making it accessible to all ACAP researchers.

The facility hosts 60 module test beds and more than 20 research-device stations, co-located with a world-class solar ground station that records detailed sunlight characteristics, spectral content, weather, and device temperature data.

CSIRO's newly upgraded PV Outdoor Research Facility in Newcastle can test performance and durability under real Australian conditions, evaluate advanced diagnostic tools, and will make high-quality data available for ACAP Nodes.

CSIRO's PV Outdoor Research Facility upgrades completed include:

• A fully re-engineered control system for greater reliability and continuous operation.

• A new data architecture and standardised nightly “data packs” for seamless sharing across ACAP.

• Expanded electrical capacity for modern high-power modules, with further upgrades scheduled throughout 2025.

• New maximum power point tracking hardware for small R&D devices.

Two ACAP Collaborative Projects are preparing to use the system, and several more are lined up.

Part of the CSIRO Photovoltaics Outdoor Research Facility, the ground station continuously monitors around twenty different solar and weather parameters that can influence the behaviour of solar panels being tested at the facility.

“By giving researchers high-quality field data – sunlight, weather and device behaviour captured together – we can boost energy yield, improve durability and lower project risk,” says Dr Fell.

“This upgraded facility will accelerate the innovations that reduce the cost of solar.”

With further enhancements planned through 2026 and 2027, the PV Outdoor Research Facility is becoming a national cornerstone for device-to-module research — strengthening collaboration, supporting education and helping Australia’s next-generation solar technologies succeed where it counts: outdoors.

CSIRO’s module-testing infrastructure also includes the recently commissioned Sinus 3000 Advanced solar simulator. One of only three in the world, it delivers near-perfect spectral accuracy for controlled indoor experiments and analysis of large commercial solar panels, and new technologies like perovskite and multi-junction modules.

Together, these assets, along with those of ANU and UNSW, are the foundation of what is hoped to become, a powerful national testing ecosystem.