Improved Dye Sensitized Solar Cell Based on the Photonic Crystal Structure of Biomimetic Butterfly Wings

Energy is the primary issue in the development of the world economy. Currently, many countries regard the development of new energy as a response to the financial crisis and an important measure to accelerate the economic recovery. As an inexhaustible clean natural energy, solar energy is one of the most promising energy. At present, the most extensive research and application of solar cells is silicon solar cells. Due to high raw material costs, complex production process and limited improved efficiency, silicon cells’ civilian subjected to technical restriction.Compared to silicon solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells have a relatively inexpensive price and potentially high photoelectric conversion efficiency, what’s more, can be made into flexible products and simply fabricated.Therefore,it’s most likely to replace the traditional silicon solar cells and become the dominant of the photovoltaic industry in the near future. This project was enlightened by the optical properties of nature butterfly wings’s photonic crystal microcavity structure that it could reflect a certain band of light and present beautiful colors. And generic into photonic crystal band gap materials which can be used in the anode light reflection layer of the third generation solar cells to improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency, so that a wide range of civilian becomes possible.Proposal submitted to TECO Creative Contest 2012