A Di-Carbazole-Based Dye as a Potential Sensitizer for Greenhouse-Integrated Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Dimitris A. Chalkias, Christos Charalampopoulos, Stefania Aivali, Aikaterini K. Andreopoulou, Aggeliki Karavioti and Elias Stathatos
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Dimitris A. Chalkias: Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Peloponnese, GR26334 Patras, Greece
Christos Charalampopoulos: Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, GR26504 Rio-Patras, Greece
Stefania Aivali: Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, GR26504 Rio-Patras, Greece
Aikaterini K. Andreopoulou: Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, GR26504 Rio-Patras, Greece
Aggeliki Karavioti: Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Peloponnese, GR26334 Patras, Greece
Elias Stathatos: Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Peloponnese, GR26334 Patras, Greece

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: For the first time in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) technology, a di-carbazole-based dye was synthesized and evaluated for its usage as a potential sensitizer for the development of wavelength selective semi-transparent DSSCs for greenhouses-oriented applications. The dye was designed to demonstrate a blue light absorption, allowing a high transmittance in the red region of the visible light, even after its adsorption on the anode semiconductor, which is the most important one for the photosynthetic action of the plants. The application of the new dye to DSSCs was examined using either a high-performance iodide-based electrolyte or a highly transparent iodine-free electrolyte to determine a good balance between electric power generation and device transparency. The spectral engineered DSSCs demonstrated quite promising characteristics, providing a high external quantum efficiency (higher than 70%) in the whole blue–green region of the visible light, while allowing high transparency (up to 55%) in the red region, where the second peak in the absorbance spectrum of chlorophyll is located. Finally, the derived results were discussed under the consideration of important metrics for this niche application, including the transparency of the solar cells in the region of photosynthetic active radiation and the attained crop growth factor. The present work constitutes one of the few comprehensive studies carried out up to now in the direction of the development of 3rd generation “agrivoltaics” for their possible integration as cladding materials in energy-autonomous greenhouses.

Keywords: dye-sensitized solar cell; di-carbazole; iodine-free electrolyte; spectral engineering; greenhouse (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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