Multiscale Modeling of Dye Solar Cells and Comparison With Experimental Data

In this paper, we investigate the electrical properties of dye solar cells (DSCs) under illumination and in dark conditions when an external bias is applied. The measurements performed on the cells will be compared with theoretical calculations. The modeling is made using two approaches: a finite-element code based on Tiber computer-aided design (CAD) software to describe in detail the electrical properties of the cell and a circuital model implemented on PSpice. The latter has been developed in the perspective of simulating larger systems, such as modules and panels. It should be a phenomenological model to fit I-V characteristics of real cells. The CAD instead allows to calculate steady-state properties and I-V characteristics of the cell, solving a set of differential equations on meshes in one, two, and three dimensions. The two models are compared to experimental values, and the microscopic model is used to shine light over the fitting parameters of the circuital model.

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