Higher Short-circuit Current Research Articles

Development of a Method and Algorithm for Inhibiting an Automatic Transfer Switch of the Circuit Breaker for a Sustained Short-Circuit

Circuit breakers with automatic transfer switches (ATS) are designed in such a way that when the voltage disappears during a short-circuit (SC) in the ring network line, the ATS device is triggered. At the same time, its switch is turned on at short-circuit, then it is turned off with acceleration. Even a shortterm switching on of the automatic transfer switch for a sustained short-circuit leads to emergency situations [1,2]. The electrical equipment of the ring network spare line is exposed to high emergency short-circuit currents, and the consumers powered by the spare transformer are turned off. It is possible to minimize and eliminate the damages caused by the above mentioned cases by inhibiting the switching on of the circuitbreaker of the automatic transfer switch.

N<sup>+</sup>-p-p<sup>+</sup> Silicon Solar Cell Base Optimum Thickness Determination under Magnetic Field

Base optimum thickness is determined for a front illuminated bifacial silicon solar cell n+-p-p+ under magnetic field. From the magneto transport equation relative to excess minority carriers in the base, with specific boundary conditions, the photocurrent is obtained. From this result the expressions of the carrier’s recombination velocity at the back surface are deducted. These new expressions of recombination velocity are plotted according to the depth of the base, to deduce the optimum thickness, which will allow the production, of a high short-circuit photocurrent. Calibration relationships of optimum thickness versus magnetic field were presented according to study ranges. It is found that, applied magnetic field imposes a weak thickness material for solar cell manufacturing leading to high short-circuit current.

Modeling Operation of Liquid Metal Fuses When Breaking Overcurrents

This paper shows that successful switching of extremely high short-circuit currents I> 50 kA can be achieved by joint operation of a liquid-metal self-resetting current limiter and a circuit breaker connected in series. The type NFU-225 device from Mitsubishi was taken as an example. The time-current characteristic of joint operation of a liquid-metal self-resetting current-limiting device and a circuit breaker was compiled. However, further in the article physical processes occurring in a liquid-metal self-resetting current limiter with a complete transformation of fusible unit are considered. The result of work is modelling of operation of liquid-metal fuses when overcurrents are switched off based on the pilot studies obtained by the Japanese scientists. It is proposed to simulate the break process not at every time moment, but at specific time moments (reference points). At other time moments, current and voltage should be considered as approximately linearly changing characteristics. The work of current limiter can be represented by three stages: the pre-arc, the main arc and the final arc. If the current density is less than 1000 A/mm2, then the pre-arc operation stage of the current limiter includes the following sections for heating the fusible unit: primary heating to the melting temperature; melting and its transition to liquid state; secondary heating to evaporation temperature; evaporation of fusible unit.

Role of Molecular and Interchain Ordering in the Formation of a δ-Hole-Transporting Layer in Organic Solar Cells.

Interface engineering, especially the realization of Ohmic contacts at the interface between organic semiconductors and metal contacts, is one of the essential preconditions to achieve high-efficiency organic electronic devices. Here, the interface structures of polymer/fullerene blends are correlated with the charge extraction/injection properties of working organic solar cells. The model system-poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM)-is fabricated using two different degrees of P3HT regioregularity to alter the blend interchain order and molecular packing, resulting in different device performances. Investigations by electroabsorption spectroscopy on these devices indicate a significant reduction (≈1 V) in the built-in potential with an increase in the P3HT regioregularity. This observation is also supported by a change in the work function (WF) of high regioregular polymer blends from photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. These results confirm the presence of a strong dipole layer acting as a δ-hole-transporting layer at the polymer/MoO3/Ag electrode interface. Unipolar hole-only devices show an increase in the magnitude of the hole current in high regioregular P3HT devices, suggesting an increase in the hole injection/extraction efficiency inside the device with a δ-hole-transporting layer. Microscopically, near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy was conducted to probe the surface microstructure in these blends, finding a highly edge-on orientation of P3HT chains in blends made with high regioregular P3HT. This edge-on orientation of P3HT chains at the interface results in a layer of oriented alkyl side chains capping the surface, which favors the formation of a dipole layer at the polymer/MoO3 interface. The increase in the charge extraction efficiency due to the formation of a δ-hole-transporting layer thus results in higher short circuit currents and fill factor values, eventually increasing the device efficiency in high regioregular P3HT devices despite a slight decrease in cell open circuit voltage. These findings emphasize the significance of WF control as a tool for improved device performance and pave the way toward interfacial optimization based on the modulation of fundamental polymer properties, such as polymer regioregularity.

A CO2/O2 Mixed Gas DC Circuit Breaker With Superconducting Fault Current-Limiting Technology

Researchers have investigated the interruption properties of CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> gas, including CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> and O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> mixed gas. However, there has been no research on the passive resonance DC interrupting characteristics of CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> /O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> mixed gas. The objective of this paper is to learn the passive resonance DC interrupting properties of CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> /O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> mixed gas with superconducting fault current-limiting technology. A proposed passive resonance DCCB that includes a superconducting current-limiting module (SCLM) and a DC interrupting module (DCIM) connected in series was tested for DC voltages of 1.3, 3 and 10 kV and DC currents from 50 A to 10 kA. The experimental results show that the DCCB could successfully interrupt a 10 kA current in a 10 kV DC system. The response time of the DCCB was only 0.3 ms. After interruption, there was no overvoltage. The arcing time and the arc voltage of the SF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</sub> gas and the CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> /O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> mixed gas were also compared experimentally. Experimental results show that CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> /O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> mixed gas may be a good substitute for the SF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</sub> gas in passive resonance interruption. The CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> /O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> mixed gas passive resonance DCCB combined with the SCLM is an effective way to interrupt high short-circuit fault currents in medium-voltage and high-voltage DC systems.

Comparative Design of Gate Drivers with Short-Circuit Protection Scheme for SiC MOSFET and Si IGBT

Short-circuit faults are the most critical failure mechanism in power converters. Among the various short-circuit protection schemes, desaturation protection is the most mature and widely used solution. Due to the lack of gate driver integrated circuit (IC) with desaturation protection for the silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), the conventional insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) driver IC is normally used as these two devices have similar gate structure and driving mechanism. In this work, a gate driver with desaturation protection is designed for the 1.2-kV/30-A SiC MOSFET and silicon (Si) IGBT with the off-the-shelf driver IC. To further limit voltage-overshoot at the rapid turn-off transient, the active clamping circuit is introduced. Based on the experiments of switching characterization and short-circuit test, the SiC MOSFET shows faster switching speed, more serious electromagnetic interference (EMI) issue, lower switching loss (half), and higher short-circuit current (1.6 times) than the Si IGBT, even with a slower gate driver. Thus, a rapid response speed is required for the desaturation protection circuit of SiC MOSFET. Due to the long delay time of the existing desaturation protection scheme, it is technically difficult to design a sub- μ s protection circuit. In this work, an external current source is proposed to charge the blanking capacitor. A short-circuit time of 0.91 μ s is achieved with a reliable protection. Additionally, the peak current is reduced by 22%.

Unraveling Correlations between Molecular Properties and Device Parameters of Organic Solar Cells Using Machine Learning.

Understanding the relationships between molecular properties and device parameters is highly desired not only to improve the overall performance of an organic solar cell but also to fulfill the requirements of a device for a particular application such as solar-to-fuel energy conversion (high open-circuit voltage (VOC)) or solar window applications (high short circuit current (JSC)). In this work, a series of machine learning models are built for three important device characteristics (VOC, JSC, and fill factor) using 13 crucial molecular properties as descriptors, resulting in an impressive predictive performance (r = 0.7). These models may play a vital role in designing promising organic materials for a specific photovoltaic application with high VOC/JSC. The importance of descriptors for each device parameter is unraveled, which may assist in tuning them and improve understanding of the energy conversion process.

13.7% Efficiency Small-Molecule Solar Cells Enabled by a Combination of Material and Morphology Optimization.

Compared with the quick development of polymer solar cells, achieving high-efficiency small-molecule solar cells (SMSCs) remains highly challenging, as they are limited by the lack of matched materials and morphology control to a great extent. Herein, two small molecules, BSFTR and Y6, which possess broad as well as matched absorption and energy levels, are applied in SMSCs. Morphology optimization with sequential solvent vapor and thermal annealing makes their blend films show proper crystallinity, balanced and high mobilities, and favorable phase separation, which is conducive for exciton dissociation, charge transport, and extraction. These contribute to a remarkable power conversion efficiency up to 13.69% with an open-circuit voltage of 0.85 V, a high short-circuit current of 23.16 mA cm-2 and a fill factor of 69.66%, which is the highest value among binary SMSCs ever reported. This result indicates that a combination of materials with matched photoelectric properties and subtle morphology control is the inevitable route to high-performance SMSCs.

Influence of post deposition fabrication steps and quantitative estimation of band diagram of Si/MoOX heterojunction for carrier selective solar cells

Heterojunction of molybdenum oxide with silicon is used as an effective hole collector in Si based carrier selective solar cells. Although the deposition of MoOX on Si is a low temperature process, the subsequent processes involved in the fabrication of the solar cell can impact the hole collection efficiency of Si/MoOX junction. In this manuscript we address the influence of post-deposition fabrication processes the subsequent processes involved in the fabrication of the solar cell can impact the hole collection efficiency of Si/MoOX junction. In this work we have found that the necessary annealing and sputtering steps have a degrading impact on the heterojunction. The underlying reasons are identified and widely described. Furthermore, to gain insight into the unique transport mechanism of heterojunction, a quantitative band diagram is obtained based on the empirical data (electron spectroscopy, optical and electrical measurements). The workfunction of thermally evaporated MoOX is found to be strongly substrate dependent and the electron affinity is deduced and measured to be 5.09 eV. The doping of MoOX films due to oxygen vacancies is found to be non-uniform as the oxygen content of the film decreases rapidly, from MoOX surface to Si/MoOX interface. Lastly, we report Si/MoOX heterojunction solar cells with high short circuit current of 33.9 mA/cm2, an open circuit voltage (VOC) of 585 mV, and an efficiency of 12.8%.

Enhanced Method for Pressure Rise Calculation in SF6 GIS Due to Fault Arcs

Modeling of pressure rise in SF6 GIS (Gas Insulated Switchgear) due to internal arc faults is a complex and challenging task, due to a large number of highly variable factors, which influence the whole process. This is especially the case in GIS with high rated short circuit currents, where the effects, such as material evaporation and erratic arc behavior, and consequently the pressure build-up rate, are much more pronounced. These severe conditions ultimately determine the design limits and must therefore be carefully investigated. The enhanced internal arc simulation model, presented in this paper, considers the impact of evaporation of different materials on gas properties and the pressure rise, as well as the dependence of released arc energy, thermal transfer and evaporation intensity on the state of gas. The experimental set-up and the test configuration, used to validate the calculation results, are evaluated and discussed. An evident finding, which is supported by measurements, is that the implemented improvements of the basic simulation model (introduced in the Technical Brochure 602 by the CIGRE working group A3.24) increase the prediction accuracy of GIS withstand performance during internal arc faults.

Research on the Lightning Intruding Overvoltage and Protection Measures of 500 kV AC Fault Current Limiter

As one of the key technologies to solve the problem of high short-circuit current, the fault current limiter (FCL) has become a research hotspot in China and abroad. The overvoltage and protection measures of the FCL are the key technologies for its application. Therefore, this paper studies the lightning intruding overvoltage and protection measures for a 500 kV FCL based on a high coupled split reactor (HCSR). Firstly, according to the main topology of the system and the 500 kV HCSR-FCL structure, the lightning intruding overvoltage simulation model of the 500 kV station, including the nearby transmission lines, is established on the PSCAD (Power Systems Computer Aided Design) program. Secondly, the lightning overvoltage of the equipment in the station and the components of the HCSR-FCL are simulated and analyzed when the transmission lines nearby are subjected to lightning shielding failure and back flashover. Meanwhile, the influence of the HCSR-FCL on the lightning overvoltage of the equipment in the station are compared and analyzed before and after the HCSR-FCL is installed. The simulation results show that the overvoltage of the equipment in the station and the components of the HCSR-FCL is more serious when the shielding failure occurs in the transmission lines nearby. The HCSR-FCL can reduce the lightning overvoltage of the equipment in the station, but the maximum inter-terminal and inter-arm lightning overvoltage of the HCSR can reach 1064 kV and 790 kV, respectively, under the current limiting state and the current sharing state. Finally, methods of increasing the arresters on the transmission lines side of the HCSR-FCL and shunt capacitor between each module of the HCSR-FCL are proposed to reduce the lightning overvoltage. The lightning impulse withstand voltage of each component of the HCSR is also proposed: The inter-terminal lightning impulse withstand voltage of HCSR is 170 kV. The inter-arm lightning impulse withstand voltage of HCSR is 200 kV. The terminal-to-ground lightning impulse withstand voltage of the HCSR-FCL is 1550 kV.

Hierarchical NiO@NiS@graphene nanocomposite as a sustainable counter electrode for Pt free dye-sensitized solar cell

Recent studies in DSSC has been concentrated on developing counter electrode (CE) with low cost materials which has high power conversion efficiency, as well as high catalytic property. NiO has been studied as CE for high short circuit current in DSSC because of its wide bandgap. In this work nickel oxide@nickel sulfide@graphene (NiO@NiS@G) nanocomposite was synthesized by hydrothermal method. Structural composition of NiO@NiS@G nanocomposite was revealed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and confirmed the formation of NiO@NiS@G nanocomposites. Raman spectroscopy is the most effective tool for the analysis of carbon-based materials. The D band and G band of Raman spectrum confirmed the conversion of graphene (G) from graphene oxide (GO). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows the presence of Ni, O, C and S atoms in the composition. The morphology analysis revealed the formation of NiO@NiS nanoplates anchored on the surface of the graphene sheets. The as-synthesized materials were coated on FTO (fluorine-doped tin oxide) substrate by spray coat technique and their catalytic properties were studied. The electrochemical activity (peak separation Epp) of NiO@NiS@G nanocomposite (391 mV) was high compared to NiO@NiS (496 mV) and exhibited excellent stability compared with NiO@NiS. Further, the charge transfer resistance of commercial Pt, NiO@NiS@G, and NiO@NiS was measured by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), with the resistance values of 15.7, 23.2, and 36.8 Ω, respectively. The efficiency of a solar cell with NiO@NiS@G is 2.10% which is high compared with NiO@NiS (1.68%).

Optimal coordination of directional overcurrent relays considering two-level fault current due to the operation of remote side relay

Overcurrent relays are widely used for the protection of distribution and sub-transmission networks. The network topology change is one of the issues that affects the coordination of directional overcurrent relays (DOCR) in the meshed network. Faster operation of relay on one side of the line respect to the relay on the other side of the line, causes the network topology change during fault, and leads to a change in the short-circuit current (SCC) passing through the other side relay and it’s backup relay. In this case, the coordination between the main and the backup relays can be disturbed due to a change in the SCC passing through them. Previous studies use the highest SCC between the SCC before topology change and the SCC after topology change in coordination of relays to overcome this issue. In this paper, a new DOCR coordination method based on the dynamic model of DOCR is presented to consider the effect of network topology change during the short circuit. The new method is formulated as a linear programming (LP) problem. Efficiency of the proposed method in comparison to conventional methods is illustrated by implementing on two sample networks, 8 bus network and IEEE 30 bus network.

A Comparative Study on Hole Transfer Inversely Correlated with Driving Force in Two Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells.

We report a faster rate of hole transfer under a smaller ΔHOMO in a comparative study of two group organic solar cells (OSCs) consisting of IT-4F as an acceptor and PBDBT and PBDBT-SF as donors. In the OSCs based on PBDBT-SF:IT-4F, a higher short-circuit current (JSC) was observed with a ΔHOMO of 0.31 eV compared to a lower JSC in PBDBT:IT-4F OSCs with a larger ΔHOMO (0.45 eV). Intensive investigation indicates that the rate of transfer of a hole from IT-4F to PBDBT-SF or PBDBT is inversely proportional to the ΔHOMO between IT-4F and donors. The larger JSC in the PBDBT-SF:IT-4F device is attributed to a synergy of faster hole transfer, slower recombination, and rapid charge extraction enabled by desired morphology and balanced charge carrier mobilities with PBDBT-SF, suggesting that under a sufficiently high ΔHOMO, comprehensive considerations of the transport, film morphology, and energy levels are needed when designing new materials for high-performance OSCs.

Microstructured membranes for improving transport resistances in proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have been identified as one of the most promising renewable energy system for use in automotive applications. However, due to the wide range of weather conditions around the world, the PEMFCs must be stable for operating under these variable conditions. One of the inefficiencies of PEMFCs in automotive applications is during vehicle warm-up, where the low hydration level within the PEMFC can lead to a low performance of the fuel cell. In this study, a proton exchange membrane (PEM) was prepared with regular, microstructured features tuned over a range of aspect ratios. These microstructured membranes were incorporated into MEAs and analyzed for their membrane, proton, and oxygen transport resistances. These fuel cells were tested under different conditions to simulate vehicle start-up, normal operating conditions, and hot operating conditions. It was determined that microstructured PEMs improved performance over planar PEMs under both the start-up and hot conditions. Despite the improved performance of the microstructured PEMs, a high hydrogen cross-over and short-circuit current were also observed for these samples. Adjusting the preparation techniques and tuning the dimensions of the microstructures may provide avenues for further optimization of PEMFC performance.

Optimal Location of Resistive SFCL for protecting electrical equipment in Indian Power Grid: a case study

Due to integration of state power grids with the national grid there is a significant rise in the short circuit fault current levels in Indian power transmission networks. The safety of protection devices in existing power system is essential. One of the possible solutions for safe guarding protection devices against high short-circuit fault currents is the integration of Superconducting Fault Current Limiters (SFCLs) in the power grid. Optimal location of minimum number of SFCLs in a power grid is a challenging job. In this paper, a simulated case study is presented on the optimal locations of SFCLs in a typical network operating at various voltage levels using resistive type SFCLs (R-SFCLs). The R-SFCL is modeled by incorporating E - J characteristics of HTS tape for the 3-phase short circuit fault simulations in MATLAB Simulink. The fault currents obtained from the simulation results, with and without R-SFCLs were then compared and analyzed.

A novel drive circuit with overcurrent protection for solid state pulse generators

In recent years, semiconductor switches have been widely used in pulse generators. In order to generate bipolar or rectangular pulses, switches in these generators operate in different time sequences. However, the dv/dt induces false triggering of the semiconductor switches that leads to local short circuits. Breakdown of the load will also produce a high short-circuit current which will affect the switches' reliability and lifetime. In this paper, a new gate drive circuit is proposed to protect switches from short-circuit currents. A 52-stage solid state Marx generator using the proposed drive circuit was tested to verify the overcurrent protection. The experimental results show that the short-circuit current is limited within a safe range and the output voltage increased significantly.

Analyzing of DSSCs Fabricated by Nb:TiO2 Characterized and Synthesized with Sol–Gel in the Magnetic Field

The charge transfer and photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) can be improved by increasing the conductivity of photoanodes used in their fabrication. To increase the conductivity of the photoanode, Nb transition metal was doped into a titanium dioxide (TiO2) crystal lattice by using two different precursors, such as NbCl5 and Nb(OEt)5. Nb doped TiO2 (Nb:TiO2) and mesoporous (mp)-TiO2 nanomaterials were synthesized via the sol–gel method by mixing crosswise effectively with two magnets in different two beakers for 24 h. DSSCs were fabricated by using mp-TiO2 and Nb:TiO2 photoanodes sensitized with Z907 dye. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images unknown in scientific literature are getting darker with the decreased of the surface porosity and, while they are getting brighter with the increased the surface porosity. The ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) graphs of photoanodes showed the Burstein-Moss (B-M) effect occurred by optic band gap energy (EOBG) enlarged due to high Nb doping level. Moreover, this effect, especially in the UV region of the electromagnetic spectrum, was seen in IPCE spectra of DSSCs due to the electronic band gap of TiO2 tailored and split via Nb doping by mixing crosswise effectively with magnets, too. The dark current (IDC) of DSSCs decreased with Nb doped in the TiO2 lattice. The highest short circuit current (Isc) values of DSSCs were observed for optimum Nb doping levels. The recombination resistance (Z 2 ′ ) at TiO2/dye/electrolyte interface of DSSCs increased with increasing Nb doping level. As a result, it was seen as a good correlation between EOBG, Z 2 ′ and Isc values that changed with Nb doping level.

Development of monolithic dye sensitized solar cell fabrication with polymer-based counter electrode

Fabrication of monolithic dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) has been developed by using a poly(3,4 ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) polymer as counter electrode. The number of layers and annealing temperature of PEDOT:PSS layers which is prepared by screen printing technique has been investigated to find the optimum performance of monolithic DSSC. The best performance of monolithic DSSC with 0.61 V open circuit voltage, 1.26 mA short circuits current, and 1.77% efficiency were resulted in 3 layers of PEDOT: PSS with annealing temperature at 120°C. The conductivity of counter electrode layer increase with the increasing of number of polymer layer, produce a high short circuit current. Otherwise, increasing the annealing temperature of PEDOT:PSS layer increases the conductivity of counter electrode layer, but decreases the Isc value.

Improving the light scattering efficiency of photoelectrode dye-sensitized solar cell through optimization of core-shell structure

Improving the capability to capture photon radiation by the photoelectrode film is one of the promising efforts in developing high performance dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) through enhancing the light harvesting efficiency by the incorporation of light scattering centre. The scattering centre serves to extend the optical path length and improve the long-wavelength response of the DSC. This study aims to develop an optimum structure of micron-size SiO2 core and TiO2 nanoshell structure as light scattering centre for the photoelectrode film of DSC. MATLAB simulation of extinction efficiency based on Mie scattering theory estimated that the optimum size of light scatterer scattering size is in the range of 150–250 nm with shell thickness of about 10–45 nm. Integration of 15% SiO2-TiO2 core-shell (STCS) into the upper layer of double layers printed photoelectrode resulted in the highest short circuit current. Although the photoelectrode film embedded with STCS structure seems to have a significant reduction in the amount of anchored dye due to its low surface area, but its IPCE analysis shows better photocurrent response especially in the wavelength range of 400–650 nm. The enhancement is attributed to the effective light scattering of the STCS structure which is capable of extending the travel distance of the incidence photon thus increasing the amount of photon captured by the sensitized dye molecules. Besides, the embedded STCS structures also help in increasing the recombination resistance, reducing rate of electron recombination, hence improving the electron lifetime.