Effect of Titanium Dioxide Thickness on Performance of DSSC Solar Cell Using Red Dragon Fruit Dye

Abstract

A solar cell is an electrical device used to convert the energy of sunlight directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon. One type of solar cells that uses plant dyes is the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The DSSC is in the form of a structural arrangement known as a sandwich structure, consisting of conductive glass as transparent electrode, titanium dioxide (TiO₂) sensitized by plant dyes, electrolyte, and a metal electrode as a counter electrode.  The paper aims to study the effect of TiO₂ thickness on DSSC performance utilizing red dragon fruit flesh extract as a dye. Three variations in the thickness of the TiO₂ layer evenly positioned in the conductive area are tested.  The thicknesses of the TiO₂ layer are 99 µm, 129 µm and 141 µm respectively. The DSSC performance is tested outdoors with sunny weather conditions from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm.  A calibrated Arduino measurement kit is used to measure the voltage and current values produced by the DSSC prototype.  Testing with a thickness of 141μm resulted in the highest maximum power value of 532.26 mW among the three thickness variations.