Coupled Optical and Electronic Modeling of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells for Steady-State Parameter Extraction

The design and development of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) is currently often realized on an empirical basis. In view of assisting in this optimization process, we present the framework of a model which consists in a coupled optical and electrical model of the DSC. The experimentally validated optical model, based on a ray-tracing algorithm, allows accurate determination of the internal quantum efficiency of devices, an important parameter that is not easily estimated. Coupling the output of the optical model—the dye absorption rate—to an electrical model for charge generation, transport, and first-order (linear) recombination allows extraction of a set of intrinsic parameters from steady-state photocurrent measurements, such as the diffusion length or the dye electron injection efficiency. Importantly, the sources of optical and electric losses in the device can be separated and quantified (i.e., transmittance, reflectance, absorptance, charge injection, recombination, and potential losses). The model has been validated for two dye systems (Z907 and C101) and the strong effect of the presence of Li+ ions in the electrolyte on intrinsic parameters is confirmed. This optoelectronic model of the DSC is a significant step toward a future systematic model-assisted optimization of DSC devices.