1 FABRICATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELL (DSSC) A Project Report Submitted in partial fulfilment of the Requirements for the award of the degree Of Integrated Masters in Technology in ENERGY ENGINEERING By: DHARMVEER KUMAR (CUJ/I/2012/IEE/009) PRANAV ANAND (CUJ/I/2012/IEE/019) ASHUTOSH PANDEY (CUJ/I/2012/IEE/004) CENTRE FOR ENERGY ENGINEERING CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF JHARKHAND RANCHI, JHARKHAND -835205 APRIL,2016
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FABRICATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND PERFORMANCE
EVALUATION OF DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELL (DSSC)
A Project Report
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the
Requirements for the award of the degree
Of
Integrated Masters in Technology
in
ENERGY ENGINEERING
By:
DHARMVEER KUMAR (CUJ/I/2012/IEE/009)
PRANAV ANAND (CUJ/I/2012/IEE/019)
ASHUTOSH PANDEY (CUJ/I/2012/IEE/004)
CENTRE FOR ENERGY ENGINEERING
CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF JHARKHAND
RANCHI, JHARKHAND -835205
APRIL,2016
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Central University of Jharkhand
Brambe
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the thesis entitled, “DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELL (DSSC)” submitted by,
DHARMVEER KUMAR, PRANAV ANAND and ASHUTOSH PANDEY to the Central University
of Jharkhand, Brambe in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Integrated Master of
Technology degree in Energy Engineering is a bonafide record of the project work carried out by
them under my supervision during semester VIII.
Signature:
Name: Dr Basudev Pradhan
Designation: Assistant Professor, CUJ
Place: Brambe, Jharkhand
Date: 26/04/2016
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It gives us great pleasure to submit my B.Tech project report on ‘DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELL
(DSSC)’.
This project was carried out under the guidance of Dr. Basudev Pradhan, Asst. Professor, Centre for
Energy Engineering, Central University of Jharkhand. We would like to express our appreciation for
him to give his valuable suggestions. We would thank him for constantly motivating us to work
harder.
We also want to thanks Prof. S. K. Samdarshi, Head of the Department and all faculty members of
Centre for Energy Engineering, Central University of Jharkhand for motivation and encouragement to
complete our project work.
Last but not least, our sincere thanks to all our friends who have patiently extended all sorts of help
for accomplishing this undertaking.
DHARMVEER KUMAR (CUJ/I/2012/IEE/009)
PRANAV ANAND (CUJ/I/2012/IEE/019)
ASHUTOSH PANDEY (CUJ/I/2012/IEE/004)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Background and Literature Review
2.1. Solar cells
2.2. Titanium dioxide (TiO2)
2.3. Construction and mode of operation
3. Experiment Methodology
3.1 Assembling the Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell
4. Results and Discussion
5. Future Work
References
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ABSTRACT
The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC) provides a technically and economically credible alternative
concept to present day p–n junction photovoltaic devices. In contrast to the conventional systems
where the semiconductor assume 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 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 nanocrstalline 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 (IPCE) over 10% have been reached. There are good prospects to
produce these cells at lower cost than conventional devices. Here we present the current state of the
field, discuss new concepts of the dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cell (DSC) including
heterojunction variants and analyze the perspectives for the future development of the technology.
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Photovoltaic devices are based on the concept of charge separation at an interface of two
materials of different conduction mechanism. To date this field has been dominated by solid-
state junction devices, usually made of silicon, and profiting from the experience and material
availability resulting from the semiconductor industry. The dominance of the photovoltaic
field by inorganic solid-state junction devices is now being challenged by the emergence of a
third generation of cells, based. A dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a cost effective group of
thin film solar cells which is based on a semiconductor formed between a photo sensitized
anode and an electrolyte. The quantitative conversion of incident photon into electric current
is achieved over a large spectral range extending from the ultraviolet to the near Infra-red
region. Although its conversion efficiency is less, the ratio to its price to performance is
proven to be good enough to allow it to compete with fossil fuel electrical generation. DSSCs
provide a technically and economically convincing substitute concept to present day p–n
junction photovoltaic devices. The function of light absorption and charge carrier transport is
separated here. Light is absorbed by a sensitizer which is anchored to the surface of a wide
band semiconductor. The separation of charge takes place through the photo-induced electron
injection from the dye into the conduction band of the solid at the interface. Carriers are
transported in the conduction band of the semiconductor to the charge collector. The
sensitizers having a broad absorption band permits to harvest a large fraction of sunlight.
DSSCs split the two functions provided by silicon in a conventional cell design. Normally the
silicon acts as both the source of photoelectrons, as well as a provision to separate the charges
resulting in the electric field. Here the photoelectrons are provided from a separate
photosensitive dye and the bulk of the semiconductor is used only for charge transport. The
separation occurs at the surface between the dye, electrolyte, and semiconductor. Dye
sensitizer absorbs the incident sunlight and exploits the light energy to induce vectorial
electron transfer reaction. It is not sensitive to the defects in semiconductors, easy to form
and supports direct energy transfer from photons to chemical energy.
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CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW
Invented by Grätzel in 1991, a later version of dye-sensitized solar cell is a low-cost solar cell
belonging to thin film solar cell. DSSC provided a technically and economically credible
alternative concept to present day p-n junction photovoltaic devices. Unlike the conventional
solar cell systems in which semiconductors function as both photon absorber and charge
carrier, DSSC separate these two functions to two different materials. (Grätzel, 2003) As
mentioned in last section, a light sensitized organic dye functions as the photon absorber,
leaving the charge carrier function to the semiconductor. Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC)
were introduced already 16 years ago but the learning curve up to this point is modest
compared to other types of solar cells [20]. In 1993, the “Institut für angewandte
Photovoltaic” was founded to upscale the device and it was estimated by that time that 1 m²
modules with an efficiency of around 10 % should be available in 1995. Nine years later the
institute was closed due to tremendous technical problems. Today the introduction of DSSC
on the market is hard to predict. Though much progress was achieved in terms of intrinsic
cell stability and upscaling, investors are reluctant due to the promises that were never
fulfilled after the introduction in 1991. In the following the key problems of DSSC – low
efficiency, low stability and low scalability – are discussed briefly. The heart of this solar cell
is composed of nano-particles of meso-porous (with the pore width of 2-50 nm) oxide layer,
which allows electronic conduction taking place. Since inorganic nano-particles have several
advantages such as size tenability and high absorption coefficients, it is always the first
choice when considering the cost and performance, etc. The material choice is mainly TiO2.
Titanium dioxide was recognized as semiconductor of choice due to its great properties in
photochemistry and photoelectrochemistry; it is a low-cost, widely available, non-toxic and