Solar Radiation Testing

Solar radiation testing involves understanding the thermal and photochemical degradation effects of sunlight on materials and components. This testing helps make decisions regarding material selection, manufacturing, and intended use of finished products. UV exposure can significantly damage non-metallic materials like change in strength and elasticity, change in electrical and electronic components, pressure changes, discoloration, sweating of composite materials, peeling, delamination, etc. Effective testing and characterization of materials can help engineers design better products to sustain these effects and perform efficiently. The most frequently performed radiation standard testing is the MIL STD 810 that broadly specifies the testing methodologies to test the effects of both heat and degradation due to light exposure. Cyclic and steady-state tests are run to simulate months or even years of bright light, heat, UV, infrared radiation, indoor artificial light exposure using large environmental chambers, solar arrays, etc. Combined environmental testing is also performed to evaluate the effect of solar radiation under temperature variations and humidity.