Concrete Embedded Dye-Synthesized Photovoltaic Solar Cell

The article summarizes the recent trends in solar cells particularly in the field of Dye Sensitized Solar Cell. The DSSC we would refer for short for Dye Sensitized Solar Cell. The Dye Sensitized Solar Cell is the recent trend in the field of solar photo voltaic electricity generation. The Solar Cells captures the solar radiation and he photovoltaic material convert those solar radiations to the usable voltage which could be used for various purpose. The conventional method using in this regard consists of the use of Silicon wafer photovoltaic solar cell which is way too costly to be used. The most efficient way to achieve the objective (cheaper solar energy) is to replace the Silicon from the PV Solar Module (Silicon being the most costly material of the module) with any other chemical or element which is abundantly available in nature and also is very cost effective. Titanium Dioxide (Ti02) is one major compound which can be used to replace Silicon along with the Ruthenium Dye. Apart from presently being many methods for a generation or harnessing solar energy, the Dye Sensitized Solar Cells or DSSCs have acquired the attention of a much wider section of scientists and engineers working in this field. Due to its greater and wider working capability in the solar UV Spectrum ad future scope of the material and porous structure and semiconducting behavior, the mesoporous titania made Dye Sensitized Solar Cells are widely expected to be used in innovative applications. INTRODUCTION The recent trend and availability of the current deposit of fossil fuels stocks availability within the planet is seeking and urge for the change of power generation need. The environmental impact of the current rate of use of fossil fuels fulfilling our energy and power requirements have an urge for the switch to the non-conventional and renewable source of energy to meet our power requirements [1]. As per an estimation, the energy requirement is to get doubled by the year 2050 because of the rapid population growth and industrialization [2]. The worldwide concern for environmental aspect for major energy production in the country is coal based, which has major environmental impact. Thus, the geothermal energy, hydrothermal energy, nuclear energy, wind energy, biomass energy, etc i.e. carbon free energy production method is getting momentum [3]. However, light from the Sun is the major source of renewable energy as solar energy. Moreover, the efficiency and the cost of the solar energy production is the major barrier in a step toward environmentally friendly energy production method. Among all the renewable sources of energy available to us for the exploitation to meet our energy requirements, Solar Energy seems to be most promising, quiet and clear form of energy with the all the available technologies we possess [4]. The Solar radiations incident on the Earth's surface has the capability to generate and power equivalent to 1, 20,000 TW, which is sufficient to meet all our energy requirements [5]. Thus, all those methods or technologies available to us which can harness the solar energy is of the extreme category of importance to us [6].

The standard parameters considered to compare energy-harvesting efficiency such as the efficiency measured in standard test conditions or the concept of peak Watt power production may lead to an incorrect estimation of the real producible energy. In this work, we aim to confirm that in realistic outdoor building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) installations, the gap between dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC) and other available technologies is lower than expected in terms of producible energy. We have developed a model for the evaluation of the producible energy on a generic BIPV site with DSC technology. Average daily irradiation and temperature are considered to integrate the instantaneous power to obtain the energy production. To compare the producible energy of DSC technology with other commercial photovoltaic technologies (crystalline and amorphous silicon, CdTe, or copper indium gallium selenide), we use the estimation of energy production available under the Photovoltaic Geographical Information System platform.

Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, 2004

The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) provides a technically and economically credible alternative concept to present day p-n junction photovoltaic devices. In contrast to the conventional silicon systems, where the semiconductor assumes both the task of light absorption and charge carrier transport the two functions are separated here. Light is absorbed by a sensitizer, which is anchored to the surface of a wide band gap oxide semiconductor. Charge separation takes place at the interface via photo-induced electron injection from the dye into the conduction band of the solid. Carriers are transported in the conduction band of the semiconductor to the charge collector. The use of sensitizers having a broad absorption band in conjunction with oxide films of nanocrystalline morphology permits to harvest a large fraction of sunlight. Nearly quantitative conversion of incident photon into electric current is achieved over a large spectral range extending from the UV to the near IR region. Overall solar (standard AM 1.5) to current conversion efficiencies of 10.6% have been reached. New electrolytes based on ionic liquids have been developed that show excellent stability both under prolonged light soaking and high temperature stress. There are good prospects to produce these cells at lower cost than conventional devices. Here we present the current state of the field, and discuss the importance of mastering the interface of the mesoporous films by assisting the self-assembly of the sensitizer at the surface of the oxide nanocrystals.

Inorganica Chimica Acta, 2008

To upscale DSC size to commercial size, our group was involved in developing a commercial DSC panel, which could show the industrial way and prospect. The repeatable DSC module with the size of 150 mm · 200 mm and photoelectric conversion efficiency around 6% was reproduced in our laboratory. The DSC panel up to the size of 450 mm · 800 mm was fabricated. This is the high efficiency and industrial production design of a DSC panel, a primary power station with 500 W was installed on our roof for charging the battery. The study on the stability and performance of the DSC module, panel and future production are ongoing in our laboratory. In this article, we will report a systematic study in the test and the design from the single cell, the modules, to the panels, and our design of a 500 W primary DSC power station.

Research & Reviews: Journal of Material Sciences

The world is now shifting from the conventional energy sources to renewable energy to meet the energy demand. Among the sustainable technologies, photovoltaic technology is regarded as the most efficient [1]. It is based on the concept of charge separation at an interface of two materials of different conduction mechanism [2]. Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have received considerable attention and a remarkable high conversion energy efficiency of nearly 10% using crystalline mesoporous TiO 2 film [3] , in which the optical absorption and charge separation takes place. The assembly of a dye-sensitized solar cell is based on a layered structure, which consists of two transparent glass plates with a Transparent Conductive Oxide (TCO) on it, placed parallel to each other and spaced of about 40 μm apart. On one of the plates is applied a nanocrystalline TiO 2 layer coated organometallic photosensitive dye-this collection, retrieve in the cell function photo-anode (illuminated anode). The surface of the other glass ABSTRACT Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have gained widespread attention in recent years because of their low production cost, ease fabrication and tunable optical properties, such as colour and transparency. Now-a-days natural dye was used to sensitize the electrode and the counter electrode was prepared by the help of carbon black. In this study we report molecularly engineered different dyes (henna, pomegranate and beet root) and nanoTiO 2 in the DSSCs, which features the prototypical structure of a donor-π-bridge-acceptor and maximizes electrolyte compatibility with improved light-harvesting properties. BulkTiO 2 of sizes 150 micron were converted to nanoTiO 2 particles having sizes less than 20 nm using planetary ball mill. Our design consists of a lattice of modulated-diameter nanoTiO 2 particles and interstitial regions filled with electrolyte. This provides not only light trapping and absorption enhancement, but offers improved electrical transport through the nanoTiO 2 particles. It is observed that when frequency increases both capacitance and resistance decreases. At certain point capacitance it maintains a steady state and resistance is nearly equal to zero. This is due to the internal resistance and the steady state capacitance of the cell. It conforms that the fabricated dye sensitized solar cell works like a conventional cell. It is found that henna and pomegranate dyes shows better energy conversion efficiency than beet root dye.

We have employed several natural dyes for application in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Spinach, beet, red cabbage and strawberry are well known and have been already used. We then checked the opportunity to realize good DSSC with dyes available in Tunisia: Henna and Mallow (Mloukhya). Henna is a herb which has interesting reddish brownish dyeing properties used since antiquity for traditional decoration of skin, hair and fingernails in the Middle East and North Africa. The mallow is a green vegetable which is widely consumed in the same region. The optical absorption of the extracted dyes diluted in ethanol or distilled water were measured using UVeVis spectrophotometer. The absorption in beet and red cabbage is more significant compared to the other dyes. Mallow and henna dyes present a noticeable band in the region 660 nm. Infra-red spectroscopy measurements were done to probe the structure and dynamics in our used dyes. In this paper, we present the steps followed in the making of our solar cells. The DSSC were assembled using two glass plates (supporting electrode and counter electrode) which are coated with transparent conducting oxide (TCO). The counter electrode is coated by a catalyst Pt (Platinum) to speed up the redox reaction with the electrolyte solution. The typical JeV curves of our solar cells under AM 1.5 using a density of power 100 mW/cm 2 were measured. Cells using henna and mallow as dyes present less degradation with time in the photoelectric characteristics. The mallow cell shows a good fill factor of 55% and a noticeable photoelectric conversion efficiency of 0.215%.

International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET), 2022

Solar cells give better power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared to conventional solar cells made of Silicon in terms of low materials and manufacturing costs. Materials required for the manufacturing of DSSCs such as titanium oxide are inexpensive, abundant and environmentally friendly. DSSC materials are contamination resistant and processable at room temperature, a roll-to-roll process can be used to print DSSCs in a mass production facility. DSSCs have been found to perform better under low light conditions and so they are a great choice for indoor applications, especially in powering of low powered objects such as IoT devices. A lot of work has also been done to make coloured and semi-transparent thin film DSSCs to use indoors and in window modules and enhance their aesthetic values. This review is a report about some selected works done in manufacturing of DSSCs, especially the transparent cells and their integration in buildings, both outdoors and indoor [1].

Solar Cells - Dye-Sensitized Devices, 2011

The following paper describes the new methods and materials used to produce a traditional Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell and displays and analysis the results produced. This team produced the test cells using TiO 2 as the substrate and Rhuthenium N719 as the dye. A platinum electrolyte was added to the cell prior to the collection of current density and voltage data. The research was conducted as part of the Drexel Smart House, which is a student run organization in Drexel University aimed at sustainable and innovative inventions for potential use at Smart House. Two kinds of TiO 2 were used, handmade and magnetic stirred while two spreading techniques were incorporated, namely, Doctor Blading and Spin Coating. The best efficiency found in this study was 0.88% for a cell spin coated at 100 rotations per minute layered with a single layer of magnetic stirred TiO 2. The other efficiency increasing techniques employed were the use of multiple layers of substrate. Double layered TiO 2 cells were produced, the highest efficiency amongst which was 0.743%, a little lower than the highest, 0.88%.