CSIR-National Physical Laboratory inaugurates world-class environmental and solar calibration facilities

Key facts

• Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the world’s second National Environmental Standard Laboratory and the world’s fifth National Primary Standard Facility for Solar Cell Calibration at CSIR-NPL.
• The National Environmental Standard Laboratory will provide India-specific calibration and certification of air pollution monitoring systems under Indian climatic conditions.
• The National Primary Standard Facility for Solar Cell Calibration, developed with PTB Germany, achieves the lowest global uncertainty of 0.35% (k=2) for reference solar cell calibration.
• CSIR-NPL houses atomic clocks that established Indian Standard Time (IST), with the Minister noting “half the nation synchronised its watches with the atomic clock housed at NPL.”
• NPL’s new solar facility reduces India’s dependence on foreign certification, saves foreign exchange, and boosts investor confidence in the domestic solar sector.