Performance Evaluation of Modified Zinc-Phthalocyanine Groups as an Active Material in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Ghazi Aman Nowsherwan, Nouman Nowsherwan, Nadia Anwar (), Muqarrab Ahmed (), Yasir Usman, Faisal Amin, Nadia Nowsherwan, Saira Ikram, Shaheen Irfan, Muhammad Umar and Wen-Cheng Lai ()
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Ghazi Aman Nowsherwan: Centre of Excellence in Solid State Physics, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
Nouman Nowsherwan: Centre of Excellence in Solid State Physics, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
Nadia Anwar: Department of Physics, The University of Lahore, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Muqarrab Ahmed: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore 54890, Pakistan
Yasir Usman: Department of Physics, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
Faisal Amin: Centre of Excellence in Solid State Physics, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
Nadia Nowsherwan: Institute of Agricultural Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
Saira Ikram: Centre of Excellence in Solid State Physics, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
Shaheen Irfan: Department of Physics, The University of Lahore, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Muhammad Umar: School of Machinery and Vehicles, Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), Beijing 100811, China
Wen-Cheng Lai: Department of Electrical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 640243, Taiwan

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-17

Abstract: The increasing demand for energy and electricity and the depletion of fossil fuels are global problems. In recent years, dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) technologies have gained notoriety for their application in solar energy. DSSCs are considered a promising alternative renewable energy source to both inorganic and organic photovoltaic (PV) cells. Many types of dyes are being investigated to enhance the light-harvesting properties of DSSCs, but the actual realization of these absorbers in cell structure requires optimum parameters. The main aim of this study was to simulate proposed zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPC)-based structures to validate their design, assess their performance for commercial implementation, and optimize the cell parameters for optimum efficiency. To that end, Scaps-1D was employed to evaluate the performance of DSSCs to determine their optimum parameters. We found that ZnPC and isopropoxy ZnPC molecules outperform others molecules because of better optoelectronic properties. Several other parametric effects, such as photoactive layer thicknesses, doping densities, trap densities, and charge carrier mobilities, were also evaluated to observe their impact on device performance. The results show that moderate thickness, low defect density, moderate doping, and charge carrier mobility are favorable for better device performance due to low recombination losses, electrical losses, and better transport of charge carriers. The utmost power conversion efficiency values found for ZnPC- and ZnPC: PC70BM-based DSSCs after optimization were 9.50% and 9.81%. This paper also suggests a practical method for efficiently using DSSC cells by modifying factors that are significantly reliant on DSSC performance and output.

Keywords: solar cell; dye-sensitized; electrical modeling; DSSC; PCE; zinc phthalocyanine (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: 2023
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