Enhanced Photovoltaic Performances in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

This work demonstrated improvements in the photovoltaic performance metrics of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) through the application of Eu-doped strontium silicate – Sr2SiO4:Eu3+, luminescent downshifting (LDS) material. The material converted underuti-lized high energy ultraviolet (UV) photon into lower energy visible photon for better spec-tral responsivity in the DSSC. The LDS material was prepared by the conventional solid state technique. Surface morphology was examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Photoluminescence (PL) measurement was applied for the fluorescence emission. The photovoltaic performances of the bare and LDS enhanced devices were analyzed from the photovoltaic current – voltage measurement. Compared to the bare DSSC, the cell with Sr2SiO4:Eu3+ LDS phosphor material had an enhancement of 14.8 % in the short circuit current density (Jsc), from 0.243 – 0.279 mA/cm2. The open circuit voltage (Voc) yielded an improvement of 10 % from 580 – 638 mV. Maximum power output (Pmax) produced a boost of 26.5 % from 0.0136 – 0.0172 mW and the efficiency improvement at 26.6 % from 1.09 – 1.38 %. The coefficient of variation was introduced to evaluate device reproducibility. The device with the incorporation of Sr2SiO4:Eu3+ LDS phosphor, depicted a coefficient of variation of 8.5 %, suggesting good DSSC reproducibility consistency.