3-domain Model Of Simulation For The Dye-sensitized Solar Cell Based On Nanostructure Of Tio₂

Compared to the traditional solar cells based on silicon, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) have many advantages and they have drawn growing attention from many researchers in recent years. Firstly, the manufacture technology is so simple that it does not require expensive facilities or super-clean labs. Secondly, the raw material that is mainly TiO₂ and electrolyte is not only readily available but also very cheap. Besides, DSCs can use flexible substrate material and have broad prospects for application as the thin film solar cell.The nanostructure of TiO₂, especially for nanowires, nanorods and nanotubes, can adsorb a number of dye molecules and thus it can improve the performance of the DSCs. At present, the research about nanostructure of TiO₂ is in the phase of research and exploration. There are many new, effective methods and achievements appearing. Though the general principle of the DSCs has been studied, there is no proper numerical simulation for DSC's internal electrical behavior and I-V curve.In this paper, an electrical model has been presented. In our simulation, the solar cell is modeled by three parts which are TiO₂ semiconductor, pseudo-homogeneous effective medium and redox electrolyte. All the charge carriers are applied with continuity, transport and Poisson's equations. As a result, the model demonstrates electrical characteristics inside the cell and the influence of 3 parts'thickness. At last we figure out that the length of nanotubes is the most critical elements for the performance of the solar cell and calculate the appropriate length to produce the high-perfomance cell.