Photovoltaic Performance Optimization of Natural Trollius Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract:

Dye-sensitized solar cell is gradually becoming a strong competitor to Si-based solar cells, attracting much attention both from research and industry. Organic dyes used in dye-sensitized solar cells usually resemble dyes found in plants, fruits, and other natural products. In the present study, trollius pigment was extracted from a natural flower named trollius petals to serve as the sensitizer of the cells. UV-Vis absorption measurement revealed that the extracted pigment had a stronger absorbance under acid condition than that under basic condition. Devices were assembled with this trollius pigment, by systematically correlating the photovoltaic performance with the pH value of dye solution, film thickness and the sensitization time of the photoanode. The power conversion efficiency was increased by 37.9% when the pH of the dye solution was changed from alkaline (pH=9) to acidic (pH=4.3). The optimized efficiency of 0.254% was obtained when the film thickness was 13μm and the sensitization time was 3h under acidic condition.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volumes 512-515)
• Pages: 1614-1618
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.512-515.1614
• Online since: June 2012
• Authors: Gui Jun Yang, Sen Rui Wang, Hong Lin, Gang Wang, Yong Chang Zhang, Feng Hao, Hui Yuan Chen
• Keywords: Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC), Film Thickness, Natural Sensitizer, pH Value, Sensitization Time

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