The Construction and Comparison of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Blackberry and N719 Dyes

Document Type : Articles

Authors

• Maryam Shirkavand ¹
• Mohammad Bavir ²
• Ali Fattah ³
• Hamid Reza Alaei ⁴
• Mohammad Hossein Tayarani Najaran ⁵

¹ Physics Dept, Khayyam University, Mashhad, Iran

² Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept, Shahab Danesh University, Qom, Iran

³ Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Robotic, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

⁴ Faculty of Physics, IAU Varamin-pishva Branch, Tehran, Iran

⁵ Faculty of Physics, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

In a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), the amount of light absorption depends
on the design of the pigments, which determines the strength of light absorption and the
optical range of the cell. In this paper, we have constructed and studied two fairly similar
pattern of DSSCs in structure. The thickness of TiO2 used for both cells is taken to be 2
μm. We have used an industrial N719 dye for one of the cells and a natural blackberry
dye for the other. The N719 dye is the most common dye used in DSSCs. The results
obtained from the I-V curve indicate a 700 mV open-circuit voltage (Voc), an 8.57 mA
short-circuit current (Isc), a 70% fill factor (FF) and a 4.2% efficiency for the N719
sample. Blackberry is a natural dye which has no toxic effects in comparison with the
industrial samples. The results obtained from the blackberry cell experiment indicate a
770 mV Voc, a 2.08 mA Isc, a 70% FF and a 1.13% efficiency.

Keywords

• Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell
• Pigment
• Natural Blackberry Dye
• The N719 Dye
• Efficiency

20.1001.1.24237361.2018.3.1.7.8

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