Theoretical modeling of the series resistance effect on dye-sensitized solar cell performance

Based on the continuity equations and the equivalent circuit, the conductivity of substrates and the resistances of silver grid in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) are investigated. The complete I-V characteristics of DSC are obtained with different internal resistances. The theoretical and experimental results show internal resistances dominate the fill factor of DSC. At the same time, DSC module is investigated by numerical simulation under parallel connection with different illumination intensities. It can be found the high resistivity of substrates and the high illumination intensity lead to a lower optimal width in the DSC module.