Enhancing power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitised solar cell (DSSC) by optimising photoelectrode thickness layer

The photoelectrode element in DSSC plays a vital role as a substrate to hold dye and transport the electron to the conductive base in DSSC. A coventional photoelectrode consists of nanoparticle metal oxide semiconductor layered on the conductive side af dye to photo transparent electrode. Photovoltaic (PV) parameters such as open-circuit voltage (Voc), short-circuit current density (Jsc), maximum power point (Pmax), fill-factor (FF) and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the solar cell are determined through this experiment. In this project, the thickness of (TiO₂) and Zinc Oxide (ZnO) are fabricated to 5 µm, 10 µm, 15 µm and 30 µm by doctor blading method to allow an efficient electron transport from N719 dye to photoelectrode. It was found that at 15 µm, the PCE achieved by TiO₂ is highest at 1.303 % with Jsc of 5.842 mA/cm² which indicate about 57 % enhancement compared to TiO₂ at 5 µm which generate PCE at 0.83 % and Jsc of 3.798 mA/cm². Besides, at the thickness of 15 µm, the efficiency achieved by ZnO is highest at 1.296 % with Jsc of 6.215 mA/cm² which indicate about 75 % enhancement compared to ZnO at 5 µm which generate PCE at 0.741 % and Jsc of 3.505 mA/cm². Lastly, the performance of TiO₂ as photoelectrode is more efficient compared to ZnO as the PCE achieved by TiO₂ at 5 µm, 10 µm, 15 µm and 30 µm are higher compared to PCE achieved by ZnO.