Solar Energy, Vol.122, 700-711, 2015
Enhanced electrical model for dye-sensitized solar cell characterization
The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) have aroused in recent decades a growing interest from researchers in photovoltaic area, and those for their low cost and their performance very respectable (similar to 11.2%). The physical and chemical phenomena that take place inside DSSC cells are complex compared to the conventional one. They are related to disordered and tangled nature of materials that made the recipe of these DSSC, such as TiO2, electrolyte, and dye. In the present paper, we deliver a detailed theoretical model based on electrical considerations to study the impact of physical parameter of DSSC cell on the J-V characteristic, performance and photovoltaic efficiency. The DSSC cell is modeled as a "pseudo-homogeneous effective medium" consisting of a TiO2 semi-conductor, dye absorber of light and electrolyte in order to study the transport and electrochemical phenomena. The model is resolved numerically using the Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (BFGS) approach and allow access to several physical parameters and their impact on the performance of the cell. The main target is to control theses parameters to get an optimized DSSC cell for a performing photovoltaic device. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC);TiO2;Electrical model;Parameters impact;J-V characteristics