and -Based Solid-State Solar Cells
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 4
Abstract
A three-phase solid-state solar cell (SSSC) has been developed successfully using TaON nanoparticles or BiOI microspheres as a sensitizer material over a film and CuI as a hole collector. Stable current ()–voltage () curves are found under ultraviolet UV visible light irradiation with an efficiency of 0.15% and 0.10% for TaON- and BiOI-based solar cells, respectively. The observed photocurrents in SSSCs are approximately 10 and 48 times higher than those in wet-type solar cells (WSCs) based on TaON and BiOI, respectively. A plausible mechanism of charge transfer and hole filling is discussed in terms of the band gap energy and band position of the semiconductor materials.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by Improvement of Research Environment for Young Researchers, a program of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology in Japan. The authors cordially thank Professor Kazunari Domen, at the University of Tokyo, for providing TaON for their use in this study.
References
Ahmmad, B., Kurawaki, J., Leonard, K., and Kusumoto, Y. (2010). “Enhanced efficiency of TaON- and BiOI-based solar cells by Au nanoparticles.” J. Sci. Res., 2(3), 413–417.
Aldali, Y., Celik, A., and Muneer, T. (2012). “Modelling and experimental verification of solar radiation on sloped surface, photovoltaic cell, temperature, and photovoltaic efficiency.” J. Energy Eng., 8–11.
Baglio, V., Girolamo, M., Antonucci, V., and Arico, A. S. (2011). “Influence of film thickness on the electrochemical behavior of dye-sensitized solar cells.” Int. J. Electrochem. Sci., 6(8), 3375–3384.
Cao, F., Oskam, G., and Searson, P. C. (1995). “A solid-state, dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cell.” J. Phys. Chem., 99(47), 17071–17073.
Dittrich, T., Belaidi, A., and Ennaoui, A. (2011). “Concepts of inorganic solid-state nanostructured solar cells.” Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, 95(6), 1527–1536.
Grätzel, M. (2001). “Photoelectrochemical cells.” Nature, 414(6861), 338–344.
Hara, M., Takata, T., Kondo, J. N., and Domen, K. (2004). “Photocatalytic reduction of water by TaON under visible light irradiation.” Catal. Today, 90(3–4), 313–317.
Hitoki, G., Takata, T., Kondo, J. N., Hara, M., Kobayashi, H., and Domen, K. (2002). “An oxynitride, TaON, as an efficient water oxidation photocatalyst under visible light irradiation ().” Chem. Commun., 16, 1698–1699.
Inyang, H. I. (2009). “Materials extraction and use within the framework of global sustainable development.” J. Energy Eng., 1–2.
Inyang, H. I., and Frimpong, S. (2007). “Utility of energy technology development in environmentally sustainable development.” J. Energy Eng., 1–2.
Itzhaik, Y., Niitsoo, O., Page, M., and Hodes, G. (2009). “-sensitized nanoporous solar cells.” J. Phys. Chem. C, 113(11), 4254–4256.
Kijima, N., et al. (2001). “Oxidative catalytic cracking of -butane to lower alkenes over layered BiOCl catalyst.” Appl. Catal. A- Gen., 206(2), 237–244.
Konno, A., Kitagawa, T., Kida, H., Kumara, G. R. A., and Tennakone, K. (2005). “The effect of particle size and conductivity of CuI layer on the performance of solid-state dye-sensitized photovoltaic cells.” Curr. Appl. Phys., 5(2), 149–151.
Kumarasinghe, A. R., et al. (2007). “Electronic properties of the interface between -CuI and anatage-phase single-crystal and nanoparticulate surfaces: A photoemission study.” J. Chem. Phys., 127(11), 114703.
Larramona, G., et al. (2006). “Nanostructured photovoltaic cell of the type titanium dioxide, cadmium sulfide thin coating, and copper thiocyanate showing high quantum efficiency.” Chem. Mater., 18(6), 1688–1696.
Lévy-Clément, C., Tena-Zaera, R., Ryan, M. A., Katty, A., and Hodes, G. (2005). “CdSe-sensitized -CuSCN/nanowire -ZnO heterojunctions.” Adv. Mater., 17(2), 1512–1515.
Mora-Seró, I., and Bisquert, J. (2010). “Breakthroughs in the development of semiconductor-sensitized solar cells.” J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 1(20), 3046–3052.
Vangari, M., Pryor, T., and Jiang, L. (2013). “Supercapacitors: Review of materials and fabrication methods.” J. Energy Eng., 72–79.
Wadia, C., Alivisatos, A. P., and Kammen, D. M. (2009). “Materials availability expands the opportunity for large-scale photovoltaics deployment.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 43(6), 2072–2077.
Yang, L., Zhang, Z., Fang, S., Gao, X., and Obata, M. (2007). “Influence of the preparation conditions of electrodes on the performance of solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells with CuI as a hole collector.” Sol. Energy, 81(6), 717–722.
Zhang, X., Ai, Z., Jia, F., and Zhang, L. (2008). “Generalized one-pot synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic activity of hierarchical BiOX (X) Cl, Br, I) nanoplate microspheres.” J. Phys. Chem. C, 112(3), 747–753.
Zhang, X., Zhang, L., Xie, T., and Wang, D. (2009). “Low-temperature synthesis and high visible-light-induced photocatalytic activity of heterostructures.” J. Phys. Chem. C, 113(17), 7371–7378.
Zhao, K., Zhang, X., and Zhang, L. (2009). “The first BiOI-based solar cells.” Electrochem. Commun., 11(3), 612–615.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 18, 2012
Accepted: Mar 25, 2013
Published online: Apr 1, 2013
Discussion open until: Sep 1, 2013
Published in print: Dec 1, 2013
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.