Monolithic dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) architectures hold great potential for building-integrated photovoltaics applications. They indeed benefit from lower weight and manufacturing costs as they avoid the use of a transparent conductive oxide (TCO)-coated glass counter electrode. In this work, a transparent monolithic DSC comprising a hierarchical 1D nanostructure stack is fabricated by physical vapor deposition techniques. The proof of concept device comprises hyperbranched TiO2 nanostructures, sensitized by the prototypical N719, as photoanode, a hierarchical nanoporous Al2O3 spacer, and a microporous indium tin oxide (ITO) top electrode. An overall 3.12% power conversion efficiency with 60% transmittance outside the dye absorption spectral window is demonstrated. The introduction of a porous TCO layer allows an efficient trade-off between transparency and power conversion. The porous ITO exhibits submicrometer voids and supports annealing temperatures above 400 °C without compromising its optoelectronical properties. After thermal annealing at 500 °C, the resistivity, mobility, and carrier concentration of the 800 nm-thick porous ITO layer are found to be respectively 2.3 × 10−3 Ω cm−1, 11 cm2 V−1 s−1, and 1.62 × 1020 cm−3, resulting in a series resistance in the complete device architecture of 45 Ω. Electrochemical impedance and intensity-modulated photocurrent/photovoltage spectroscopy give insight into the electronic charge dynamic within the hierarchical monolithic DSCs, paving the way for potential device architecture improvements.

Multi-layered hierarchical nanostructures for transparent monolithic dye-sensitized solar cell architectures / Passoni, Luca; Fumagalli, Francesco; Perego, Andrea; Bellani, Sebastiano; Mazzolini, Piero; Di Fonzo, Fabio. - In: NANOTECHNOLOGY. - ISSN 0957-4484. - 28:24(2017), p. 245603. [10.1088/1361-6528/aa6f4b]

Multi-layered hierarchical nanostructures for transparent monolithic dye-sensitized solar cell architectures

Mazzolini, Piero;
2017-01-01

Abstract

Monolithic dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) architectures hold great potential for building-integrated photovoltaics applications. They indeed benefit from lower weight and manufacturing costs as they avoid the use of a transparent conductive oxide (TCO)-coated glass counter electrode. In this work, a transparent monolithic DSC comprising a hierarchical 1D nanostructure stack is fabricated by physical vapor deposition techniques. The proof of concept device comprises hyperbranched TiO2 nanostructures, sensitized by the prototypical N719, as photoanode, a hierarchical nanoporous Al2O3 spacer, and a microporous indium tin oxide (ITO) top electrode. An overall 3.12% power conversion efficiency with 60% transmittance outside the dye absorption spectral window is demonstrated. The introduction of a porous TCO layer allows an efficient trade-off between transparency and power conversion. The porous ITO exhibits submicrometer voids and supports annealing temperatures above 400 °C without compromising its optoelectronical properties. After thermal annealing at 500 °C, the resistivity, mobility, and carrier concentration of the 800 nm-thick porous ITO layer are found to be respectively 2.3 × 10−3 Ω cm−1, 11 cm2 V−1 s−1, and 1.62 × 1020 cm−3, resulting in a series resistance in the complete device architecture of 45 Ω. Electrochemical impedance and intensity-modulated photocurrent/photovoltage spectroscopy give insight into the electronic charge dynamic within the hierarchical monolithic DSCs, paving the way for potential device architecture improvements.
2017
Multi-layered hierarchical nanostructures for transparent monolithic dye-sensitized solar cell architectures / Passoni, Luca; Fumagalli, Francesco; Perego, Andrea; Bellani, Sebastiano; Mazzolini, Piero; Di Fonzo, Fabio. - In: NANOTECHNOLOGY. - ISSN 0957-4484. - 28:24(2017), p. 245603. [10.1088/1361-6528/aa6f4b]
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11381/2880216
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 8
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 7
social impact