Effect of diffuse light scattering designs on the efficiency of dye solar cells: An integral optical and electrical description

Herein, we present an integral optical and electrical theoretical analysis of the effect of different diffuse light scattering designs on the performance of dye solar cells. Light harvesting efficiencies and electron generation functions extracted from optical numerical calculations based on a Monte Carlo approach are introduced in a standard electron diffusion model to obtain the steady-state characteristics of the different configurations considered. We demonstrate that there is a strong dependence of the incident photon to current conversion efficiency, and thus of the overall conversion efficiency, on the interplay between the value of the electron diffusion length considered and the type of light scattering design employed, which determines the spatial dependence of the electron generation function. Other effects, like the influence of increased photoelectron generation on the photovoltage, are also discussed. Optimized scattering designs for different combinations of electrode thickness and electron diffusion length are proposed. © 2012 American Chemical Society.H.M. thanks the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for funding provided under grants MAT2008-02166, MAT2011-23593, and CONSOLIDER HOPE CSD2007-00007 and to Junta de Andalucía for grants FQM3579 and FQM5247. H.M. and J.H. are thankful for funding under a grant from Nordic Innovation Centre (NICe).Peer Reviewe