Individual Accelerated Lifetime Tests on the Natural Dye - Sensitised Solar Cells to Determine the Impact of Different Degradation Factors and Strategies to Improve Stability

In this contribution we report on the impact of individual accelerated tests on dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) degradation. Influence of the different physical factors on the tested cells lifetimes has been demonstrated. An international IEC 61646 standard has been used as a reference for the choice of the individual tests and the instruction for their further execution. The results obtained demonstrate that several exercises prescribed in the standard, such as dark thermal and humidity cycles, outdoor exposure or indoor accelerated light soaking tests can be useful in the assessment of the TCO glass-based DSSCs lifetime. The devices under tests have been sensitised with four different natural dyes, obtained from the typical Mediterranean plants. The DSSCs sensitised with Pistacia lentiscus extract demonstrate an interesting behaviour, related to the decline and retrieve of the generated photocurrent. Finally, some strategies to improve the natural dye based DSSCs lifetime have been proposed