Intermediate Band (IB) solar cell is a concept belonging to the third generation of photovoltaic converters potentially
having an efficiency limit exceeding the one of single gap solar cells. Its performance is based on the existence of an
intermediate band within the conventional gap of a host semiconductor which facilitates two step absorptions of photons
with energy below the band gap. An extension of intermediary band solar cells is the multiband solar cell achieved by
increasing the number of IBs in the host gap. When the number of IBs increases to infinite, the device becomes
equivalent to an infinite serial tandem, which exhibits a conversion efficiency close to the thermodynamic limit. One
proposes a simple but accurate model for a multiband solar cell having an arbitrary number of IBs that may be
implemented via Quantum Dot (QD) technology. The novelty of this approach lies in the computation procedure of the
energy band diagram using the transfer matrix method and the derivation of an effective absorption coefficient for the IB
system. The presented model is suitable as a tool for investigating electro-optical properties of QD multiband cells.
Results of numerical simulations performed for finding maximum conversion efficiency for given architectures are
presented.
Computer modeling has become a necessity in the solar cells design. A computer model allows the study of the physical
behavior of the device offering valuable information on the effects of each parameter on device performance. Dye-sensitized
solar cells (DSSC) have attracted a lot of interest in recent years, in research as well as in industry. In present,
the development has reached a stage where detailed physical models may contribute considerably to the optimization of
these devices. Up to now, there is not a comprehensive model which links material parameters of a DSSC based on TiO2
nanocrystals DSSC to the electrical performance of the whole cell, such as I-V characteristic and spectral response.
Typically, a DSSC consists of two layers, a TiO2 porous structure coated with a suitable light-absorbing charge-transfer
dye wetted with an iodide/triiodide redox electrolyte and a bulk electrolyte layer, sandwiched between two glass
substrates which are coated with transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layers. In this paper we present a model for the
transport processes inside the DSSC based on the classical transport equations in one dimension. The equations are
solved using the monodomain approach, which consists of using a single set of equations, with different values for the
transport coefficients inside the two regions of the computational domain. The transport coefficients for the porous
medium are calculated using homogenization techniques. The model permits the computation of the dye-sensitized solar
cell I-V curves and efficiency. As model application, the influence of the most important material parameters on the cell
performances investigated by numerical simulation is reported.
Conference Committee Involvement (1)
SPIE Eco-Photonics 2011: Sustainable Design, Manufacturing, and Engineering Workforce Education for a Green Future
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