Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol.157, 134-138, 2016
Laser sealed dye-sensitized solar cells: Efficiency and long term stability
Long-term stability is a major issue preventing dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) market implementation. The DSC stability problem relates to the sealing methods which usually employ thermoplastic sealants. This communication shows for the first time that laser glass sealing originates stable and efficient DSCs. Laser sealed DSCs showed remarkable stability compared to the Surlyne (R) sealed devices (ca. 2% vs. 44%) after accelerated ageing during 1000 h, at 65 degrees C, light intensity of 765 W m(-2) and resistive electrical load (similar to 0.6 V). These results show that efficient encapsulation methods are crucial to DSC stability and that the developed sealing process can bring stable and efficient DSCs to the photovoltaic market. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.