Modeling of Dye sensitized solar cells using a finite element method

In this paper we present an electrical model to simulate a Dye sensitized Solar Cell (DSC) based on a Finite Element Method as an extension of the TiberCAD code. The CAD allows to calculate steady-state properties and ideal IV characteristic of the cell using 1, 2 and 3D meshes for the device. We describe the model and its prerogatives, explaining the code-related problems and the implementation of the model. We show a comparison with a measured IV curve, shading light on revealing the role of different parameters involved in the physics of conversion of light. Finally, an application to an experimental set-up, the Incident Photon to Current Efficiency, is presented, estimating the Collection Efficiency spectrum for a standard DSC and the collection efficiency spectrum for a standard DSC.