Abstract
TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) with a size of 240 nm (T240), used as a light-scattering layer, were applied on 25-nm-sized TiO2 NPs (T25) that were used as a dye-absorbing layer in the photoelectrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In addition, the incident light was concentrated via a condenser lens, and the effect of light concentration on the capacity of the light-scattering layer was systematically investigated. At the optimized focal length of the condenser lens, T25/T240 double layer (DL)-based DSSCs with the photoactive area of 0.36 cm2 were found to have the short circuit current (Isc) of 11.92 mA, the open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.74 V, and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of approximately 4.11%, which is significantly improved when they were compared to the T25 single layer (SL)-based DSSCs without using a solar concentrator (the corresponding values were the Isc of 2.53 mA, the Voc of 0.69, and the PCE of 3.57%). Thus, the use of the optimized light harvesting structure in the photoelectrodes of DSSCs in conjunction with light concentration was found to significantly enhance the power output of DSSCs.
Highlights
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been developed extensively because of the relatively low cost involved in their manufacturing processes [1]
We systematically investigated the effects of using a light-scattering layer in the photoelectrodes of DSSCs along with studying the effects of using a condenser lens-based solar concentrator on the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs
Three different photoelectrode structures fabricated with a T25/T25accumulated double layer (T25/T25 DL), a T25/T240accumulated double layer (T25/T240 DL), and a T240/ T240-accumulated double layer (T240/T240 DL) were examined for verifying the effects of using a lightscattering layer under intensified light irradiation conditions tuned by a condenser lens-based solar concentrator
Summary
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been developed extensively because of the relatively low cost involved in their manufacturing processes [1]. Numerous research groups have reported the enhancement of the light-toelectricity power output of DSSCs by employing newly developed materials and modifying the intrinsic solar cell structures [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. An alternative approach for enhancing the light-to-electricity power output of DSSCs is to use a solar concentrator, which generally employs optical lenses or mirrors [11,12]. With the optimized design of the condenser lens-based solar concentrator developed in this approach, we report a novel T25/T240 DL-based DSSC system with condenser lens-based solar concentrator that exhibits a photocurrent output of approximately 11.92 mA, an open circuit voltage of 0.74 V, and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of approximately 4.11%, which exhibits a much better photovoltaic performance compared to T25/T25 DL- and T240/T240 DL-based DSSCs with condenser lens-based solar concentrator
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