Testing the performance of dye sensitized solar cells under various temperature and humidity environments

Temperature and humidity are the two vital outdoor factors that significantly affect the dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) efficiency. The complete performance of DSSCs depends on various aspects including electrolyte properties, dye adsorption over semiconductor, charge separation, etc. Both the temperature and humidity may influence DSSCs on these aspects to affect their performance. In this study, DSSCs were prepared and tested under various temperature and humidity conditions. It was observed that the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of DSSCs was significantly decreased by ~ 48% while the temperature was increased from 25 to 60 °C. Further, the PCE was dropped by ~ 67% when both the temperature and humidity were increased together from 25 to 60 °C and 75 to 100% respectively. High temperature and humid conditions may lead to dye desorption at semiconductor, electrolyte decomposition, and increase charge recombination. High temperature and high humidity exhibited a great impact on the J SC and V OC and hence they decreased the overall performance of the device. This work shall substantially contribute to the understanding of progress of DSSCs for their performance in real weather conditions for possible commercialization. Graphical Abstract