Dye Sensitized Solar Cells: A Review

TLDR: The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) as mentioned in this paper can be considered to be electrochemical devices consisting of a photoanode which has a thick film of a wide band gap oxide semiconductor, typically coated on a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) glass substrate, with TiO2 being sensitized with adsorbed dyes that absorb visible light.

Abstract: The development of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), which have derived inspiration from photosynthesis, has opened up exciting new possibilities and paradigms for producing solar photovoltaics possibly at lower cost. The dye-sensitized solar cells with moderate power conversion (∼10%) efficiencies can be manufactured under regular lab conditions without needing clean rooms or very specialized facilities. The entire processing need not involve even a single vapour deposition step. The DSSCs can be considered to be electrochemical devices consisting of (a) a photoanode which has a thick film of a wide band gap oxide semiconductor (like TiO2), typically coated on a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) glass substrate, with TiO2 being sensitized with adsorbed dyes that absorb visible light, (b) an electrolyte that establishes the internal electrical continuity between anode and counter electrode and mainly plays the role of regenerating the dye such that the photoexcitation, electron injection and current fl...