The influence of the dye adsorption time on the DSSC performance

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) of third generation photovoltaic technology, are nowadays one of the most investigated due to possibility to apply ecological and natural materials (dyes) such as alizarin. This paper reports the influence of electrode immersion time on alizarin-based dye-sensitized solar cells performance. The absorption spectra of alizarin dye were measured in the range of 300-800 nm. Fully structured dye-sensitized cells of working area equal to 0.8 cm2 have been fabricated in the sandwich way using four different immersion times of the TiO2 electrodes: 10’, 40’, 1 h, 24 h. The high-performance EL- HPE electrolyte was instilled into the space between electrodes. Current-voltage (I-V) dark and illuminated characteristics have been measured using solar light simulator. Solar cells characterization was carried out under standard test conditions. The solar irradiance was set at 100 mW/cm2 and temperature of the module was maintained at 25°C. Characteristic parameters of the fabricated cells were determined on the basis of measured I-V curves. Series resistances were extracted from I-V characteristics at an open circuit voltage using first order derivatives. It was found that 60 minutes of electrode immersion in dye solution is sufficient to obtain appropriate stage of the dye adsorption.