Spectral analysis and parameter identification of textile-based dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Linearized equivalent electrical-circuit representation of dye-sensitized solar cells is helpful both for the better understanding of the physical processes in the cell as well as for various optimizations of the cells. White-box and grey-box modelling approaches are well-known and they are widely used for standard cell types. However, in the case of new cell types or the lack of deep knowledge of the cell's physic such approaches may not be applicable immediately. In this article a black-box approach for such cases is presented applied together with spectral analysis. The spectral analysis and the black-box approach were as first validated with a standard glass-based dye-sensitized solar cell and thereafter applied for the characterization of a new type of textile-based dye-sensitized solar cells. Although there are still improvement potentials, the results are encouraging and the authors believe that the black-box method with spectral analysis may be used particularly for new types of dye-sensitized solar cells.