Measuring methods of cell performance of dye-sensitized solar cells

Cell performance measuring methods for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) were investigated in comparison with those of crystalline silicon solar cells. It was found that cell performances of DSCs varied according to voltage sweep direction and sampling delay time. On the other hand, this dependence was not observed in silicon solar cells. Measurement of the transient photocurrent revealed that the dependence on sweep direction and sampling delay time may be explained by the longer time constant of DSCs. To improve accuracy, measurement should be carried out with a sampling delay time exceeding several seconds. However, it is also found that the average value of the efficiency measured by two sweeping directions is constant when the sampling delay time is longer than 40 ms. These measurement conditions will be useful to measuring cell performance more accurately and rapidly. Additionally, determining cell area using a shading mask with an area smaller than that of TiO2 electrodes will improve accuracy when evaluating solar cell performance. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.