Dye Sensitized solar cells (DSSC), also sometimes referred to as dye sensitised cells (DSC), are a third generation photovoltaic (solar) cell that converts any visible light into electrical energy.
This new class of advanced solar cell can be likened to artificial photosynthesis due to the way in which it mimics nature’s absorption of light energy.
Dye Sensitized solar cells (DSSC) were invented in 1991 by Professor Michael Graetzel and Dr Brian O’Regan at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland and is often referred to as the Graetzel cell, we call it GCell.
DSSC is a disruptive technology that can be used to produce electricity in a wide range of light conditions, indoors and outdoors, enabling the user to convert both artificial and natural light into energy to power a broad range of electronic devices.
Working Principle
The dye is the photoactive material of DSSC, and can produce electricity once it is sensitized by light
The dye catches photons of incoming light (sunlight and ambient artificial light) and uses their energy to excite electrons, behaving like chlorophyll in photosynthesis
The dye injects this excited electron into the Titanum Dioxide (a white pigment commonly found in white paint)
The electron is conducted away by nanocrystalline titanium dioxide (a nano-scale crystallized form of the titanium dioxide).
A chemical electrolyte in the cell then closes the circuit so that the electrons are returned back to the dye
It is the movement of these electrons that creates energy which can be harvested into a rechargeable battery, super capacitor or another electrical device.
