Design of high-efficiency dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cells

Download

index.pdf

Date

2014

Author

Yavuz, Halil İbrahim

Metadata

Show full item record

Item Usage Stats

297
views

244
downloads

Nanocrystalline dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) technology continues to develop as a better alternative to the silicon based solar cells, which are commercialized. This study aims at finding low cost and highly efficient DSSC design and production methods via examination of effects of both photoanode structure and photon-electron generation mechanism on photoanode layers. This will contribute to the commercialization of DSSC technology. Photoanode structure is examined in four groups; transparent conductive glass (TCO), blocking layer (BL), absorber layer (AL) and scattering layer (SL) throughout this study. Firstly, indium doped SnO2 (ITO) was synthesized by sol-gel method for the use in TCO part of the DSSCs. 4.32% conversion efficiency has been found by using those TCO’s in the production of fully sol-gel based DSSCs. For the first time in the literature, 1D ITO structures were synthesized by sol-gel method and this synthesis was used on DSSCs in order to increase the interaction between TCO and AL. However, the commercialized fluorine doped SnO2 (FTO) TCO’s were used instead of ITO based ones in the rest of the study since their charge transport resistances are lower. ZrO2 BL was found to have superior photovoltaic characteristics in prevention of back transfer reactions. In addition, ZrO2 BL was found to protect the conductivity of FTO based TCO’s during heat treatment. AL, which is responsible for photon to electron generation, was synthesized using 5% Zr doped TiO2 nanoparticles. This synthesis was found to have photon to energy conversion efficiency (ɳ) trice than bare TiO2 absorber layer. Moreover, adding hydrothermal treatment step to the sol-gel method process was found to increase photon to energy conversion efficiency rate. The scattering layers enable to increase the light absorption ability of DSSC via unused photons scattering back to metal oxide sensitized interface. For this purpose, SL was produced by 10% Zr modified TiO2 particles. These particles showed better performance rate than traditionally produced scattering layer. As a result of all these analyses, this Thesis found that the modifications made to the photoanode increased DSSC’s photovoltaic characteristics. After the modifications 7.45% photon to energy conversion efficiency was obtained.

Subject Keywords

Solar cells., Dye-sensitized solar cells., Zirconium., Titanium dioxide., Nanoparticles.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12618106/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/23937

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

Fabrication and investigation of extremely thin CdTe absorber layer solar cells Hosseini, Arezoo; Erçelebi, Ayşe Çiğdem; Turan, Raşit; Department of Physics (2016) Extremely thin absorber layer (ETA) solar cells aim to combine the advantages of using very thin and cheaply produced absorber layer on nano structured substrates with stability of all-solid-state solar cells. This type of photovoltaic devices use a nano structured interpenetrating heterojunction of thin light-absorbing layer at the interface between an n- and p-type semiconductors. N-type nano structured TiO2 layer is deposited on a Transparent Conducting Oxide coated glass (TCO) substrate, following with ...
Fabrication and characterization of PEDOT:PSS hole transport layers for silicon solar cells Türkay, Deniz; Yerci, Selçuk; Department of Micro and Nanotechnology (2019) Heterojunction silicon solar cells have gained considerable interest in recent years with the demonstration of record-high device performances. However, these devices are typically based on inorganic layers fabricated at high temperatures under vacuum environment, using toxic precursors. The low temperature budget, non-toxic chemical contents, and wide range of adjustability in physical and electrical properties make poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) a promising candidate a...
Production of amorphous silicon / p-type crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells by sputtering and PECVD methods Eygi, Zeynep Deniz; Turan, Raşit; Erçelebi, Ayşe Çiğdem; Department of Physics (2011) Silicon heterojunction solar cells, a-Si:H/c-Si, are promising technology for future photovoltaic systems. An a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cell combines the advantages of single crystalline silicon photovoltaic with thin-film technologies. This thesis reports a detailed survey of heterojunction silicon solar cells with p-type wafer fabricated by magnetron sputtering and Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) techniques at low processing temperature. In the first part of this study, magnetron ...
Analysis of boron doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide thin film for silicon heterojunction solar cells Salimi, Arghavan; Turan, Raşit; Department of Micro and Nanotechnology (2019) Silicon based solar cells are the dominant type of solar cells in the photovoltaic industry. Recently, there have been increasing efforts to develop c-Si solar cells with higher efficiency and lower cost. Among them, silicon heterojunction solar cell (SHJ) is attracting much attention because of its superior performance values demonstrated at both R&D and industrial levels. One of the common limiting criteria is the recombination at the front side which can be solved by providing proper passivation at the f...
Application of Si Nanowires Fabricated by Metal-Assisted Etching to Crystalline Si Solar Cells KULAKCI, Mustafa; ES, FIRAT; ÖZDEMİR, Baris; Ünalan, Hüsnü Emrah; Turan, Raşit (2013-01-01) Reflection and transmission through a solar cell can be significantly reduced using light-trapping structures. This approach can be applied to both crystalline and thin-film solar cells to improve the light absorption and conversion efficiency of the cell. In this study, vertically aligned Si nanowires were fabricated over a large area via a metal-assisted etching technique. Following a detailed parametric study, nanowires were applied to industrial-size (156 mm x 156 mm) Si solar cells. The reflectivity fr...

Citation Formats

H. İ. Yavuz, “Design of high-efficiency dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cells,” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2014.