Back contact dye-sensitized solar cells

A new structure for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) was proposed in which the transparent conducting oxide (TCO) is omitted and the cathode is located on the opposite side of the titanium dioxide (TiO2) film surface to the side of light irradiation. DSCs with this structure are called back contact DSCs (BCDSCs). The structure and fabrication of the cathode of BCDSCs was investigated in comparison with silicon solar cells. BCDSCs with conversion efficiency of 7.1% were achieved by vacuum deposition of the cathode directly onto the TiO2 film, suggesting that BCDSCs can function as effective solar cells with potentially increased efficiency due to the omission of the TCO.