Chapter 2

Solar Cell
 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

2.1 Solar Cell

Solar cell (photovoltaic cell or photoelectric cell) is a solid state device that

converts the energy of sunlight into electricity by photovoltaic or photoelectric

effect. In photo voltaic effect, generated electrons are transferred between different

bands (i.e. from the valence band to conduction bands) within the material resulting

in the buildup of a voltage between two electrodes. In photoelectric effect electrons

are ejected from a material’s surface upon exposure to radiation.

The photovoltaic effect was first observed by French physicist A. E. Becquerel

in 1839. The first solar cell was made in 1883 by Charles Fritts, who coated the

semiconductor Selenium with an extremely thin layer of gold to form the junction.

In 1946, Russell Ohl patented the modern semiconductor junction solar cell. The

first commercial solar cell was first developed by Daryl Chapin, Calvin Souther

Fuller and Gerald Pearson in 1954 using a diffused silicon p-n junction.

2.2 Generations of Solar Cell

Solar cells are classified into three generations. The generation indicates the

order in which each became important. At present there is a concurrent research into

all three generations. The first generation technologies are still the most highly

represented in commercial production accounting for over 85% of all cells produced.

2.2.1 First Generation Solar Cell

First generation solar cells are the silicon based photovoltaic cell. Generally

silicon based solar cells are more efficient and long lasting than non-silicon based

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 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

solar cells. They are prevalent due to their high efficiency. Single junction silicon

devices are approaching the theoretical limiting efficiency of 33%.

First generation solar cells are the most expensive to produce because of the

amount of money it takes to extract silicon from sand and then purify it before

growing the crystals. First generation cells consist of large area, high quality and

single junction devices. The technology involves high energy and labor inputs.

There are four types of silicon based cells used in the production of solar panels for

commercial use i.e. monocrystalline silicon cell, polycrystalline silicon cell,

amorphous silicon cell and hybrid silicon cell.

Construction of solar cells

Silicon based solar cells are made using single crystal wafers, polycrystalline

wafers or thin films. Single crystal wafers are made from a large crystal ingot which

has been grown at 1400°C. It is very expensive process. The silicon must be of very

high purity and have a near perfect crystal structure. Casting method is used to

produce polycrystalline wafers. In this method molten silicon is poured into a mould

and allowed to set, and then it is cut into wafers. Polycrystalline silicon is

significantly cheaper to produce. Amorphous silicon based solar cells are based on

thin film technologies. Thin films are made by depositing silicon onto a glass

substrate from a reactive gas such as silane.

For solar cell production, silicon is doped by atoms to create n-type or p-type

region thereby producing a p-n junction. The doping can be done by temperature

diffusion process. The wafers are placed in a furnace with the dopant introduced a

vapor. In thin film devices the introduction of dopant can occur during the

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 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

deposition of the films or layers. Electrical contacts are made to the front and the

back of the cell by evaporating or screen printing metal on to the wafer.

Working of Solar cell

Solar cells are made of two layers of silicon. One layer is p-type silicon and

another is n-type silicon. When the p layer is kept next to n layer a diode is created.

When a photon hits the silicon the energy of the photon can be absorbed by a silicon

atom freeing an electron from the atom and leaving behind a hole. The electron then

moves towards the n-type layer while the hole moves towards the p type layer.

Hence, current flows through the solar cell. The working of solar cell is shown in

figure 2.

Figure 2: The working of a solar cell [1]

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 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

2.2.2 Second Generation Solar Cell

The second generation solar cells also called thin film solar cells is significantly

cheaper to produce than first generation cells but have lower efficiencies. Second

generation technologies have been gaining market share since 2008. They are

mounted on a glass substrate. The great advantage of second generation thin film

solar cell, along with low cost is their flexibility. The efficiencies are lower

compared to first generation cells. Thin film technologies reduce the amount of

material required in creating a solar cell.

The most successful second generation materials include amorphous silicon,

microcrystalline silicon, Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) and Copper Indium Gallium

Selenide (CIGS). The big appeal of these types of solar cells is that they are less

expensive (below $1.00/watt to produce).

Cadmium Telluride Solar Cell (CdTe)

A Cadmium Telluride Solar Cell uses a thin layer of semiconducting Cadmium

Telluride (CdTe) to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity. The Cadmium

present in the cells would be toxic if released. P- type CdTe is sandwiched with n-

type Cadmium Sulfide to form p-n junction. As of 2013, CdTe cell efficiency

approached 19.6% in the laboratory [2].

Copper Indium Gallium Selenide Solar Cell (CIGS)

Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) is a direct bandgap material. Co-

evaporation and sputtering methods are used to fabricate CIGS thin film solar cell.

The heterojunction is formed between the semiconductors CIGS and ZnO, separated

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 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

by a thin layer of CdS. As the absorption coefficient of CIGS is very high, it

strongly absorbs sunlight. The efficiency of CIGS solar cell is 20% which is the

record to date for any thin film solar cell [3, 4].

Gallium Arsenide multijunction Solar Cell

For special applications such as satellites and space exploration, high efficiency

multijunction cells were developed. The multijunction solar cells are also called

Tandem solar cells. They consist of multiple thin films. For example a triple

junction cell may consist of the semiconductors Gallium Arsenide (GaAs),

Germanium (Ge) and Gallium Indium diphosphate (GaInP2). The semiconductors

are chosen to absorb nearly the entire solar spectrum, thus generating electricity

from as much of the solar energy as possible. GaAs based multijunction solar cells

have proved to be the most efficient solar cells on the laboratory scale. The

efficiency of triple junction cell has reached 42.3% [5, 6]. However this efficiency is

gained at the cost of increased complexity and manufacturing price. The high price

and price to performance ratio of multijunction solar cells have limited their use.

2.2.3 Third Generation Solar Cells

Third generation Solar Cells are the cutting edge of solar technology. Still in the

research phase, third generation solar cells have moved well beyond silicon based

cells. The third generation solar cells do not need the p-n junction necessary in

traditional silicon and other semiconductor based solar cells. Third generation

technologies aim to enhance electrical performance of second generation technology

while maintaining very low production costs. The third generation solar cells include

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 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

non-semiconductor technologies, polymer based cells, dye sensitized solar cells,

quantum dot technologies and up conversion technologies.

Organic/Polymer Solar Cell

Organic solar cells are a relatively novel technology. Organic solar cells and

Polymer solar cells are built form thin film ( ̴ 100 nm) of organic semiconductors

including polymers such as polyphenlylene vinylene, copper phthalocyanin, carbon

fullerenes and fullerene derivatives. Organic solar cells are potentially cost effective

for photovoltaic applications. As the optical absorption coefficient of organic

molecules is quite high, a large amount of light can be absorbed with a small amount

of material. Compared to silicon based devices organic/polymer solar cells are light

weight, inexpensive and flexible. The disadvantages of organic solar cells are low

efficiency, low stability and low strength compared to inorganic photovoltaic cells.

Organic solar cells are composed of electron donor and electron acceptor materials

rather than semiconductor p-n junctions. The two layers of electron donor and

electron acceptor materials are sandwiched between two metallic conductors.

Generally a layer of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) with high work function and a layer of

low work function metal such as Aluminium, Magnesium or Calcium are brought

together. The basic structure of organic solar cell is shown in figure 2. The organic

solar cells differ from inorganic semiconductor solar cells in that they do not rely on

the large built in electric field of a p-n junction to separate the electrons and holes

created when photons are absorbed. The active region of organic solar cell includes

two materials, one which act as an electron donor and the other as an electron

acceptor. When a photon is absorbed by material, electron-hole pair is generated.

The charges tend to remain bound in the form of an exciton and are separated when

26
 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

the exciton diffuses to the donor-acceptor interface. The exciton diffusion length of

most of the polymers is short which limit the efficiency of such a device. The

organic solar cells had reached efficiencies of above 8% by 2014 [7].

Figure 2: Basic structure or Organic Solar Cell

Dye Sensitized Solar Cell

The dye sensitized solar cell is a low cost solar cell. This cell, also known as the

Gratzel cell, was invented by Michael Gratzel and Brian O’Regan in 1991. The first

attempt was made by using chlorophyll as sensitizer in 1970 when scientist coated

TiO2 crystals with chlorophyll. However the devices only achieved 0.01%

efficiencies because there was very little charge carrier separation. In 1988, Gratzel

asked one of his graduate students to use nanoparticles of TiO2. He managed to get

current of microamperes. With refinement current in milliamps was achieved.

Gratzel published his revolutionary work in nature reporting 7% efficiency. The

efficiency of DSSC has reached 10.4%.

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 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

Structure and Materials

The schematic structure of DSSC is shown in figure 3. The diffenret components

of DSSC are described in this section.

Figure 3: Schematic structure of DSSC

The dye sensitized solar cell encloses three primary parts, one is anode , another

is cathode and third one is electrolyte solution. Anode is made of glass plate on

which thin conducting layer of indium or flouride doped tin oxide is coated. On this

conducting plate a thin uniform layer of TiO2, preferably with high porosity and

high surface area is formed. Being a wide band gap material ,TiO2 absorbs only a

fraction of solar spectrum. The plate is then immersed in a photosensitive dye.

Generally ruthenium polypyridine dye is used which gives the highest efficiency.

Instead of synthetic dye, natural dyes can be also used for sensitization. This plate is

also termed as working electrode. The counter electrode or cathode is also prepared

on conducting plate. On this plate a thin layer of platinum, carbon or graphite is

coated. A thin layer of electrolyte containg iodide/triodie ions is formed on platinum

or carbon coated plate. The two plates are then joined and sealed.

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 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

Conducting Glass plate

The transparent conduicting glass plate is used as a substrate for DSSC. The

substrate must have low sheet resistancs and high transparency for high solar cell

performance. A thin layer of transparent conducting oxide (TCO) is coated on glass

plate. Indium doped tin oxide (ITO) and flourine doped tin oxide (FTO) are famous

TCO materilas. The sheet resistanc should be independent of temperature upto 500
0
C as sintering of the TiO2 electrode is carried out at 450 0C. ITO coated conducting

plate shows low sheet resistance at room temperature but this resistance increases

significantly with temperature. Generally, FTO is used as a TCO substrate for

DSSC.

Photoelectrode

Photoelectrodes are also known as anode or working eletrode. The metal oxide

semiconductors used for making photoelectrode of DSSC are essenstially wide

bandgap material. Different seminocducting materials used in DSSC are TiO2, ZnO,

SnO2 and Nb2O5 [8]. TiO2 is widely used semiconducting material for

photoelectrode as it is cheap, chemically inert and easy to synthesize. The

performance of DSSC is greatly influenced by properties like particle size, porosity

and thickness of TiO2 film. It has been reported that mixture of submicron sized

particles with nano crystalline TiO2 can improve phtocurrent density as it increases

scattering effect. The one dimensional nanostructures like nanotubes and nanorods

have also been used in DSSC to prepare photoelectrode [9, 10]. Electrons can easily

migrate through these structures compared to nanoparticles and thus travel time of

electron is redued. The special geometry with high surface area of nanotubes and

nanorods leads to increase in dye loading [11]. These structures can be sytnhesized

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 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

by hydrothermal method, sol gel method, alumina template and electrochemical

etching method [12]. It has been reported that increase in thickness of TiO2 film

leads to increase in short circuit current density (Jsc) as dye loading increases. There

is a decrease in open circuit voltage (Voc) of the cells beyond certain thickness

because of more recombination taking place in thicker film [13]. Reduction in

particle size also results in increase in short circuit current density as more dye can

be adsorbed in the film, but reduction in particle size increases the number of grain

boundries, which causes recombination and reduces Voc. For efficient DSSC the

particle size of TiO2 nanoparticles should be 20-25 nm and the thickness of the film

should be 10-12 μm.

Dye (photosensitizer):

Dye molecules must fulfill certain criteria in order to be used as a

photosensitizer in DSSC. A dye molecule should absorb photons in whole of the

visible region and near IR region of solar spectrum. The extinction co-efficient must

be high. The perifery of the dye molecules should be hydrophobic to prevent water

induced desoprtion of dye from TiO2 surface and enhance the long term stability

[14]. To avoid non radiative decay of excited state to ground state the dye should not

aggregate on the surafce of TiO2 which generally occurs in thicker film [15].

Different kind of dyes have been used in DSSC. Ruthenium (Ru) metal complexes

are the most common and efficient dyes because the excited states of the complexes

have long life time and oxidized Ru has long term chemical stability. The three very

common Ru cmplex dyes are N-3, N-719 and Z-907. The structures of these dyes

are shown in figure 4. The chemcial formula and IUPAC name of Ru complex dyes

are given in Table 1.

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 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

N-3 N-719 Z-907

Figure 4: Structure of Ruthenium based Dyes

Table 1: Chemical formula and IUPAC name of Ruthenium based dyes

Dye Formula Name

N-3 C26H16N6O8RuS2 cis-bis (isothiocyanato) bis(2, 2´-bipyridyl -

4,4´-dicarboxylato)ruthenium(II)

N-719 C58H86N8O8RuS2 Di-tetrabutylammonium cis-bis

(isothiocyanato) bis(2, 2´-bipyridyl -4,4´-
dicarboxylato)ruthenium(II)

Z-907 C42H52N6O4RuS2 cis-bis (isothiocyanato) bis(2, 2´-bipyridyl -

4,4´-dicarboxylato) (4,4´-di-nonyl-2´´-
bipyridyl)ruthenium(II)

Various metal free Pyrrole and Fluorene based organic dyes have been

synthesized with the aim of replacing the expensive Ruthenium complexes.

Because of rarity, high cost and the complicated synthesis of Ruthenium

complexes research has focused on the alternative, easily available, low cost and

environment friendly dyes extracted from natural sources like fruts, flowers and

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 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

leaves. Several natural dyes extracted from capsicum, balck rice, rosa xanthina, red

cabbage, rossela flower, blue pea flower, curcumin, red perilla etc. have been used

for sensitization in DSSC [16, 17, 18, 19]. The colours of these dyes are due to the

pigments present in them. The list of pigments and their compounds are given in

Table 2.

Table 2: Natural Dyes

Pigment Compound Color

Porphyrin chlorophyll Green
Ceratoid Carotene & lycopene Yellow, orange, red
xanthophyll yellow
Flavonoid Flavone yellow
Flavonol yellow
Anthocyanin Red, blue, purple,
magenta

Electrolyte:

The electrolyte contains redox couple which regenerates the oxidized dye. The

electrolyte should have following properties to be used in DSSC [20, 21].

1. The dye should be regenerated efficiently by electrolyte after the process

of dye excitation and electron injection to conduction band of oxide

semiconductor.

2. The conductivity of electrolyte should be high ( ̴ 10-3S.cm-1).

3. The electrolyte should infiltrate thorugh the pores of the photoanode and

establish contact with both the electrodes.

4. The electrolyte should not desorp the dye from photoanode.

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 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

5. The electrolyte should not react with the sealant.

6. The electrolyte should not udergo any chemical changes.

7. The electrolyte should be stable upto ̴ 800C.

The cell performance depends on ion conductivity of electrolyte. The ion

conductivity of electrolyte is strongly affected by viscosity of solvents. For better

performance of DSSC, low viscosity solvents are desired. Iodide/triodide redox

couple is most widely used electrolyte in DSSC due to their better performance.

Generally electrolyte is a mixture of different iodides, iodine and solvents. NaI, LiI,

KI, tetraalkylammonium iodide (R4NI) and imidazolium-derivative iodides are the

other iodides used for electrolyte preparation. Acetonitrile, propionitrile,

methoxyacetonitrile, proylene carbonate and ethelyne carbonate are the commonly

used solvents.

Counter Electrode:

Counter electrode is another important component of DSSC like photoanode and

electrolyte. The counter electrode is used to complete the electric circuit of DSSC.

To reduce the tri-iodide, the surface of the counter electrode is activated using a

suitable catalyst. Low charge transfer resistance and good chemical stability are

most important characteristics that the catalyst must have. Platinum is most efficient

and commonly used catalyst but problem associated with platinum is its excessive

cost.

Platinum can be deposited on FTO substrate by various techniques like

sputtering, dip coating, electrophoretic deposition, etc. It has been reported that the

thickness of 2 nm is sufficient for DSSC operation [22]. Other low cost materials

33
 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

such as carbon, conducting polymers, CoS, TiN and poly(3,4-ethylene-

dioxythiophene) have also been used as counter electrode in DSSC. Apart from

platinum, carbon and its allotropes such as carbon black, carbon nanotubes and

graphene are the most studied materials for counter electrode [23, 24, 25]. Although

the electrocatalytic activity of carbon and its allotropes is poor yet it remains as an

attractive material due to its chemical stability.

Mechanism:

The dye sensitized solarcell is working on the principle of photosynthesis. The

different steps of process are listed below. The mechanism of dyesensitized solar

cell is shown in figure 5.

Figure 5: Mechanism of dye sensitized solar cell

1) The incident light is absorbed by the photosensitive dye. By photon absorption,

the electrons of photosensitizer are excited from ground level (D) to excited state

34
 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

(D*). The excited electrons are transferred to conduction band of TiO2 by

oxidizing the photosensitizer (D+).

D + hν = D*

D* → D+ + e-

The electrons in conduction band of TiO2 are transported between TiO2 particles and

finally reach the counter electrode through the circuit.

2) The oxidized photosensitizer regains electron from electrolyte solution and

oxidizes I- to I3-.

D+ + e- = D

3) The oxidized I3- ion gets electron from carbon or platinum coated electrode and

reduces to I- ion.

I3- + 2 e- = 3I-

Advantages:

Dye sensitized solarcell is most efficient third generation solarcell. They are

fabricated with the low cost materials and technolgies. It is an attractive option to

replace silicon based solarcell. The price to perfoemance ratio of DSSC is quite

higher than other solarcells.

Dye sensitized solarcell can work efficiently under low light intensity or cloudy

weather. DSSC shows higher efficiency than traditional silicon solarcell at higher

temperature. It also works properly at lower temperatures.

35
 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

DSSCs are made of light weight materials. They require no special protection

from rains and hence are easy to maintain. DSSC can be printed on any flexible

surface.

Disadvantages:

Dye degradation

The dyes in dye sensitized solar cell degrade when exposed to ultraviolet

radiation. However, techniques have been developed to overcome this problem. The

barrier layer may include UV stabilizer or UV absorbing luminescent chromophores

(which emit at longer wavelengths) and antioxidants to protect and improve the

efficiency of the cell.

Rarity of Dye materials

Most of the components of dye sensitized solar cells are common and

inexpensive. Dye sensitized solar cell uses complexes of the relatively rare metal

ruthenium as a dye, which is not practical for large scale applications. A great deal

of research is being carried out on alternative dyes including metal free organic and

natural dyes. Metal free and natural dyes generally have lower efficiencies than dyes

that incorporate metals.

Low Efficiency

Dye sensitized solar cells have efficiencies of about 5-11%, which is

significantly lower than most other solar cell technologies. A metal free organic dye

is reported to have an overall efficiency at 5.1%. Because of lower efficiency a dye

36
 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

sensitized solar cell array must be significantly larger than other photovoltaic arrays

in order to produce the same amount of power.

Freezing of electrolyte

The major disadvantage to dye sensitized solar cell design is the use of liquid

electrolyte. The liquid electrolyte has temperature stability problem. At lower

temperature this electrolyte can freeze and stop the flow of current. Higher

temperatures cause the liquid to expand and it may leak form the cell which reduce

the efficiency of cell. Replacing the liquid electrolyte with a solid has been a major

ongoing field of interest.

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 Chapter 2: Solar Cell

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