Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2014
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Journal of Solar Energy
Volume
2014
First Page
1
Last Page
7
DOI of Original Publication
10.1155/2014/192812
Date of Submission
October 2016
Abstract
Hybrid solar cells (HSCs) with water soluble polythiophene sodium poly[2-(3-thienyl)-ethyloxy-4-butylsulfonate] (PTEBS) thin films produced using electrospray deposition (ESD) were fabricated, tested, and modeled and compared to devices produced using conventional spin coating. A single device structure of FTO/TiO2/PTEBS/Au was used to study the effects of ESD of the PTEBS layer on device performance. ESD was found to increase the short circuit current density (Jsc) by a factor of 2 while decreasing the open circuit voltage (Voc) by half compared to spin coated PTEBS films. Comparable efficiencies of 0.009% were achieved from both device construction types. Current-voltage curves were modeled using the characteristic solar cell equation and showed a similar increase in generated photocurrent with an increase by two orders of magnitude in the saturation current in devices from ESD films. Increases in Jsc are attributed to an increase in the interfacial contact area between the TiO2 and PTEBS layers, while decreases in Voc are attributed to incomplete film formation from ESD.
Rights
Copyright © 2014 Marshall L. Sweet et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Is Part Of
VCU Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Publications
Comments
Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/192812