How to improve the performance of dye-sensitized solar cell modules by light collection

Low cost reflectors were applied to dye-sensitized solar cell modules to reduce the energy losses caused by the inactive areas occupied by sealing materials and metal fingers, and significant improvement of overall efficiency was achieved. An improved model was used to simulate the modules, and the optimized geometry parameters of the modules were obtained. After applying the reflectors, wider silver fingers, and smaller cells were recommended for large area modules, and the influence of the width of sealing material was reduced. Simulation results show that the maximum total area efficiency of 11.22% for large area modules could be achieved based on the small cell with efficiency of 11.4% and reflectors with reflectivity of 0.9. The reflectors can be utilized in any kind of solar cell with inactive areas. The model can also be applied to other kinds of solar cell module with any geometry characters, and the optimized parameters can be obtained easily for any design. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.