On the I–V measurement of dye-sensitized solar cell: Effect of cell geometry on photovoltaic parameters

The effect of mask aperture size with respect to dye-adsorbed TiO2 area on the response of photocurrent, voltage, fill factor and efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) was recently studied by Gratzel's research group [S. Ito, Md. K. Nazeeruddin, P. Liska, P. Comte, R. Charvet, P. Pechy, M. Jirousek, A. Kay, S.M. Zakeeruddin, M. Grätzel, Prog. Photovolt. Res. Appl. 14 (2006) 589], where it was proposed that overall efficiency could be overestimated when measuring a DSSC without mask having adequate aperture size. In this report, beside the aperture size, we have studied effects of glass substrate thickness and geometry, thickness and layer structure of TiO2 film on photovoltaic parameters. Photovoltaic parameters, mostly photocurrent density, were found to be significantly influenced by the glass substrate thickness and the TiO2 layer structure. Data analysis suggests that photovoltaic characteristics before and after mask are dependent not only on measuring condition such as mask aperture size but also on substrate thickness and TiO2 layer structure.