We report on the validation of a stabilization procedure
designed to minimize variations in repeated power measurements
at standard test conditions caused by transient light-induced
metastabilities in copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) modules.
Such metastable effects frustrate the repeatable and accurate
measurement of a module’s performance in the electrical state to
which it stabilizes under normal operation outdoors. The procedure
studied here is based on a light exposure followed by forward
electrical bias as the module cools to the measurement temperature.
The procedure was tested in a lab-to-lab intercomparison
involving five different labs. Results show that the procedure is
effective in yielding repeatable measurements and that the variations
due to metastabilities are of roughly the same magnitude as
those associated with variations in illumination conditions between
different flash simulators. We also find that temperature-corrected
measurements made immediately upon completion of the light exposure
are less repeatable than those made after the module has
cooled to 25°C under bias