An alternate method to extract performance characteristics in dye sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Modeling the electrical properties of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) can fill the gap between the experimental and ideal performance observations for a reliable device diagnosis, design and optimization. The complex physical and chemical reactions between nanocrystalline semiconductor, electrolyte ions and dye molecules make their simulation an open issue to the researchers. Compared to the research works presented in literature, here, we provide a simpler, but more meaningful fit of current −voltage curves by developing a simulation model. The present work provides a reliable framework to extract electrical transport properties of the device, namely, diffusion coefficient, transport time, diffusion length, series resistance and performance parameters from steady state current–voltage curves without using interpretable frequency dependent methods, as well as transient characteristics. The model versatility makes it also capable of predicting the dye regeneration efficiency under short circuit, mid-voltages and high voltage ranges. The simulation method can be also implemented to compare the effect of different electrolytes as well as their species concentrations on regeneration efficiency and overall DSSCs performance. The whole model is designed in a flexible framework to be adapted to various kind of solar cells such as quantum dot and perovskite solar cells.