Abstract—An effective low-cost hybrid solar simulator combiningLED sources and a low-voltage halogen lamp to produce anoutput beam that can closely match a desired solar spectrum isproposed and analyzed in this paper. A summary of design andoptimization procedure for spectral match is given, on the basis ofthe photometric values taken from data sheets and converted tothe corresponding radiometric values. As an example of application,the output spectrum is preliminary compared with standardglobal terrestrial solar spectra air mass AM 1.5 for a test planeof 12.5 ื 12.5 cm2. The results of simulated spectra calculationsand some experimental measurements on a hybrid LED-halogensolar simulator prototype are given. Experimental tests haveshown the possibility of reaching the Class B of spectral matchingwith better than 5% spatial nonuniformity over a designed testarea of 10 ื 10 cm2. The halogen lamp is properly chosen tocover the range of near-infrared (NIR) radiation, and the use ofinfrared diode emitters is avoided. The possibility to get a solarhybrid simulator having Class A for spectral match by adding fewNIR diode emitters is also investigated.