Application of Nanomaterials

in Solar Cells
Working Principle of Solar Cells
 Advantages of nanomaterials
Very large difference in physical and chemical properties
when the sizes of materials were down to nanoscale.

Advantages:

1. Large surface
2. High reactivity
3. Lower cost

Wu, J. J., et al., Appl. Phys.

Lett. 2007, 91, 093117
Solar spectrum
Solar cell generations
 Advantages and disadvantages
of Si solar cell
Advantages:
 High power conversion efficiency (single crystalline Si ~
25%, polycrystalline Si ~ 20.4%, amorphous Si ~ 10.1%).

Long term stability

Disadvantages:
 High cost in material and fabrication process.
 2nd generation:
Thin film solar cells

CuInGaSe2
 Advantages and disadvantages of thin
film solar cells
Advantages:
High absorption coefficient
Low cost substrate (Cu tape)

Disadvantages:
Contamination from fabrication process
Rare metals (Se, In)
 3rd generation: Organic solar cells
Polymer solar cell
– Organic materials
– Solution-process
– Simpler fabrication process
– Lowest cost
 Polymer solar cells

• Solid active layer

• Light weight and high flexibility
• High transparence (active layer~100 nm)
• Large area and low cost fabrication
Working principle of polymer
solar cell
 Bulk heterojunction structure

Electron donor material and

electron acceptor material
are mixed.

Poly(3-hexylthiophene)

phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester

ITO: Indium Tin Oxide
Bulk Heterojunction Structure

PEDOT: poly(3,4-ethylenedioxylenethiophene).
PSS: poly(4-styrene sulfonic acid)
Polymer Inorganic Solar Cell
 Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC)

TCO: Transparent Conductive Oxide (Indium Tin Oxide)

Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC)
 Mechanism of DSSC
1. The incident photon is absorbed by Ru complex photosensitizers adsorbed on the
TiO2 surface.

2. The photosensitizers are excited from the ground state (S) to the excited state (S∗). The
excited electrons are injected into the conduction band of the TiO2 electrode. This results
in the oxidation of the photosensitizer (S+).
S + hν → S∗ (1)
S∗ → S+ + e− (TiO2) (2)

3. The injected electrons in the conduction band of TiO2 are transported between
TiO2 nanoparticles with diffusion toward the back contact (TCO). And the electrons
finally reach the counter electrode through the circuit.

4. The oxidized photosensitizer (S+) accepts electrons from the I− ion redox mediator
leading to regeneration of the ground state (S), and the I− is oxidized to the oxidized state,
I3−.
3I − → I3 − + 2e −
S+ + e− → S (3)
5. The oxidized redox mediator, I3−, diffuses toward the counter electrode and then it is
reduced to I− ions.
I3− + 2 e− → 3 I− (4)
Products of DSSC
Applications of DSSC