Evaluation of treatment effects for high-performance dye-sensitized solar cells using equivalent circuit analysis

Equivalent circuit analysis using a one-diode model was carried out as a simpler, more convenient method to evaluate the electric mechanism and to employ effective treatment of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC). Cells treated using acetic acid or 4,t-butylpyridine were measured under irradiation (0.1 W/m2, AM 1.5) to obtain current–voltage (I–V) curves. Cell performance and equivalent circuit parameters were calculated from the I–V curves. Evaluation based on residual factors was useful for better fitting of the equivalent circuit to the I–V curve. The diode factor value was often over two for high-performance DSCs. Acetic acid treatment was effective to increase the short-circuit current by decreasing the series resistance of cells. In contrast, 4,t-butylpyridine was effective to increase open-circuit voltage by increasing the cell shunt resistance. Previous explanations considered that acetic acid worked to decrease the internal resistance of the TiO2 layer and butylpyridine worked to lower the back-electron-transfer from the TiO2 to the electrolyte.