Study of the effects of UV-exposure on dye-sensitized solar cells

摘要

We studied the effects of UV irradiation on encapsulated ruthenium-based dye-sensitized solar cell by means of accelerated irradiation stresses. A progressive degradation of open-circuit voltage occurs, while the short-circuit current suddenly drops during stress. The sudden degradation can easily be detected from DC measurements and it occurs when series resistance starts to increase. Electrolyte bleaching is the main effect for cell failure and it induces the degradation of TiO2/Dye/Electrolyte interface as side effect. At the end of the irradiation a complete loss of electrolyte was observed.