PHOTON International The Photovoltaic Magazine

Peccell develops 4 V dye-sensitized cell

The Japanese company Peccell Technologies Inc. based in Yokohama City was founded in March 2004 with the purpose of developing dye-sensitized solar cells.

	© Showa Denko K.K.
High-voltage cells: The dye-sensitized cells from Peccell 12 × 12 cm in size achieve a voltage of over 4 V when illuminated by a 27 W fluorescent tube.

As was revealed in September, Peccell has now made a dye-sensitized cell 12 × 12 cm in size, which holds a maximum voltage of 4.3 V. The cell, which weighs 15 g and is 500 µm thick, has an electron conductor in the form of a paste made from fine titanium oxide particles. The paste is said to be suitable for portable applications, as well as for conventional cells on glass substrates. The paste was developed together with the Japanese chemicals company Showa Denko K.K. (SDK), but is manufactured solely by SDK. The titanium oxide particles are between 10 and 500 nm in size, which means they have a rather large surface area allowing to absorb a lot of dye molecules. Shipment of the thin-film dye-sensitized cells is targeted to begin in 2006.