Large area dye-sensitized solar cells: material aspects of fabrication

Abstract

Dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical solar cells of large area are fabricated using highly conducting and optically transparent glass consisting of an inner layer of indium-tin oxide and an outer layer of fluorine doped tin oxide. A method is described for the deposition of nanocrystalline films of TiO2 consisting of large and small median size particles (30 and 5 nm, respectively) which promote porosity and light scattering. Incorporation of trace quantities of magnesium oxide into TiO2 increased the efficiency of the cells. The energy conversion efficiency of a cell (AM 1·5, 1000 W m−2 simulated sunlight) of area 21 cm2 was found to be 7·2% compared to 5·6% in the absence of magnesium oxide. The mechanisms by which the magnesium oxide improves the cell performance are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.