Improving the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells by using the conversion luminescence of a phosphor

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been intensively studied since their discovery in 1991. A DSSC is composed of an electrode made of a dye-adsorbed nanoporous TiO2 layer on a fluorine-doped tin-oxide (FTO) glass substrate, redox electrolytes, and a counter electrode. One of the ways to increase the efficiency of DSSC is to enhance the harvest of light. Many synthetic dyes have been synthesized and employed to improve the harvest of light and increase photocurrent production by DSSCs; however, even the best dyes (e.g., N-719) only absorb in the wavelength range of 400–800 nm, and most ultraviolet wavelengths are not used. In this work, phosphor is introduced to the TiO2 photoelectrode of a DSSC to improve the light harvesting, photovoltage, photocurrent production, and solar conversion efficiency by using a conversion-luminescence process. Moreover, further increases in the conversion efficiency of the DSSC are possible.