Parametric Studies on the Photovoltaic Performance Improvement of a Nanotube Photo-Electrochemical Solar Cell

Abstract

A computational ionic transfer model including electronic losses to predict the performance of a photo-electrochemical solar cell (PESC) was derived. The photocurrent-voltage (I-V) performances under a selected amount of important design and operating parameters were evaluated. Simulation results reveal that the TiO 2 nanotube design has the highest power density at an equivalent porosity of 0.75. It was found that the nanotube height that maximizes the power density is 18 μm (when the total thickness is 60 μm). Several alternative sensitizers to replace the original ruthenium dyes and various forms of electrolytes were studied to reduce the cost and to increase the stability of the baseline nanotube PESC. Finally, the operating parameter studies reveal that the optimal performance of the PESC occurs at an operating temperature of around 313 K, which clearly decreases with an increase in the shaded area or with decreasing irradiance intensity. In conclusion, this paper provides a guideline for future PESC designs and also serves as a useful design tool for solar energy conversion using electrochemical science. © 2011 The Electrochemical Society.