Dye-Sensitized Photovoltaic Module with Conversion Efficiency of 8.4%

In this paper we investigate a dye-sensitized photovoltaic module (DSM) composed of many rectangular cells connected in series, known as a W-connected type module, where neighboring cells are processed in reverse. The characteristics of the serial connection of silicon solar cells have been investigated extensively, while, with dye-sensitized photovoltaic modules, the influence of each rectangular cell performance on the serially connected module has not been investigated as thoroughly. Here we investigate the performance of the rectangular cell in dye-sensitized photovoltaic modules, and we clarify the correlation between the conversion efficiency of the module and the uniformity of the TiO2 layer thicknesses. With these improvements, we achieved an overall energy conversion efficiency of 8.4% (aperture area: 26.47 cm(2)) as measured by a public test center under AM-1.5 irradiation. This sets a record for the confirmed efficiency of the DSM. (C) 2009 The Japan Society of Applied Physics