Optimization of quantum dots for solar cell applications

The quantum dots-sensitized solar cells (QDSSC) provide an alternative concept to present day photovoltaic devices. Cadmium sulfide/Zinc sulfide-sensitized solar cells have been synthesized by chemical bath deposition, based on an aqueous medium involving cadmium sulphate, zinc acetate, thiourea and ammonium hydroxide. To improve the luminescence efficiency and photo stability of the quantum dots (QDs), coating the quantum dots with another wide bandgap semiconductor is a usual procedure. In particular, for CdS quantum dots, the particles were covered with ZnS to establish a core/shell system. This CdS/ZnS quantum dots are assembled onto nanoporous TiO2 films for quantum dots-sensitized solar cell applications. Physical and chemical properties of the formed nanoparticles were analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), ultraviolet-visible light (UV-VIS) spectrometer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). An efficiency as high as 1.80% for the CdS/ZnS quantum dots-sensitized solar cells was achieved using the present method

A Novel Modeling of Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells

The electrical properties of quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSC) under illumination and dark conditions are investigated and the measurements obtained on the cells are compared with theoretical calculations. Curve fitting are solved with the help of non-linear curve least squares solver in MATLAB. The parameter matrix P was then fitted using the solver to minimize the mean square of deviation between the experimental and fitted data. Thus obtained parameters are used for modeling the solar cell in SIMULINK environment. This model is a phenomenological model to fit I–V characteristics of real cells.</jats:p

Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells via Integrated Experimental and Modeling Study

The solar energy is one of the potential renewable green energy source considering the availability of sunlight in abundance and the need for clean and renewable source of energy. Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals having considerable interest in photovoltaic research areas. Cadmium sulfide-sensitized solar cells are synthesized by Chemical bath deposition and titanium nanowires were fabricated by hydrothermal method. The synthesized CdS quantum dots are sensitized to nanoporous TiO2 films to form quantum dots-sensitized solar cell applications. The introduction of TNWs enables the electrolyte to penetrate easily inside the film which increases the interfacial contact between the nanowires, the quantum dots and the electrolyte results in improvement in efficiency of solar cell. The goal of our research is to understand the fundamental physics and performance of quantum dot-sensitized solar cells with improved photoconversion efficiency at the low cost based on selection of TiO2 nanostructures, sensitizers and electrodes through an integrated experimental and modeling study.</jats:p