More Efficient Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

(EPFL, July 11, 2013)

Dye-sensitized solar cells have many advantages over their silicon-based counterparts They offer transparency, low cost, and high power conversion efficiencies also under cloudy and artificial light conditions. However, so far their overall efficiency has been lower than silicon-based solar cells. In a Nature publication, EPFL scientists have developed a state solid version of the DSSC that is fabricated by a new two-step process raising their efficiency up to a record 15% without sacrificing stability. The authors believe that it will open a new era of DSSC development, featuring stability and efficiencies that equal or even surpass today's best thin-film photovoltaic devices.