Regensburg 2010 – scientific programme

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HL: Fachverband Halbleiterphysik

HL 1: Tutorial: Modern Photovoltaics - Techniques beyond Silicon

HL 1.3: Tutorial

Sunday, March 21, 2010, 17:00–17:30, H2

Dye-sensitized solar cells — •Sven Rühle — Institute for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Dept. of Chemsitry, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are a low cost alternative to crystalline silicon p-n junction photovoltaic cells. DSSCs consist of a mesoporous nanocrystalline wide bandgap semiconductor (usually TiO₂) that is sintered onto a transparent conducting substrate (TCO). The nanocrystals are covered with a dye-monolayer and the pores are filled with a redox electrolyte which is in contact with a Pt counter electrode. Upon illumination light is absorbed by the dye molecules and electrons are injected from the excited dye state into the TiO₂ conduction band while the dye is regenerated by the electrolyte. Electrons diffuse through the mesoporous film to the TCO front contact while positive charges are transported by the redox species to the counter electrode. In DSSCs efficient charge separation occurs at the TiO₂/dye/electrolyte interface and build-in electrostatic fields play a minor role for cell operation in contrast to p-n junction solar cells. The basic principles of DSSC operation will be reviewed and theoretical efficiency limitations will be discussed.