Dye-sensitized solar cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10128056-B2
Application number	US-201313764490-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 11, 2013
Priority date	Oct 6, 2010
Publication date	Nov 13, 2018
Grant date	Nov 13, 2018

Abstract

The present invention is a dye-sensitized solar cell that has a pair of electrodes that oppose each other, a sealing section that joins the pair of electrodes, an electrolyte that fills a cell space that is surrounded by the pair of electrodes and the sealing section, wherein the sealing section has a resin sealing section that contains a resin, the resin sealing section has a changing-thickness section, the thickness of which increases or decreases as a distance from the electrolyte is increased and which has an inclined face, and the resin sealing section comes into contact, along the inclined face of the changing-thickness section, with an electrode of the pair of electrodes that opposes the inclined face.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A dye-sensitized solar cell, comprising:
a pair of electrodes that oppose each other, the pair of electrodes including a first electrode and a second electrode, the first electrode of the pair of electrodes having a flexibility, the first electrode of the pair of electrodes including a substrate consisting of a metallic material having a first inclined surface and a second inclined surface, the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface of the first electrode meet and form a pointed vertex;
a porous oxide semiconductor layer provided between the pair of electrodes,
a photosensitizing dye supported on the porous oxide semiconductor,
a sealing member that joins the pair of electrodes; and
an electrolyte that fills a cell space, the cell space being surrounded by the pair of electrodes and the sealing member, wherein
the second electrode has a conductive substrate,
the sealing member consists of a resin sealing member and an inorganic sealing member,
the resin sealing member consists of a resin,
the resin sealing member is in direct contact with the electrolyte,
the inorganic sealing member joins the resin sealing member and the conductive substrate of the second electrode, the inorganic sealing member consisting of an inorganic material,
the inorganic sealing member is in direct physical contact with the second electrode and is not in direct physical contact with the first electrode,
an interface between the inorganic sealing member and the conductive substrate of the second electrode is a flat surface,
the resin sealing member has a changing-thickness section, a thickness of the changing-thickness section changing to increase or decrease as a distance from the electrolyte is increased and the changing-thickness section having an inclined face, the thickness is in a direction perpendicular to a flat surface of the second electrode of the pair of electrodes,
the inclined face of the changing-thickness section comes into contact with and opposes the first inclined surface of the first electrode of the pair of electrodes, and
the inclined face of the changing-thickness section of the resin sealing member is in contact with the first inclined surface of the first electrode.

2. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein the changing-thickness section is an increasing-thickness section, the thickness of the increasing thickness section increases as a distance from the electrolyte is increased.

3. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 2 , wherein
the inclined face of the changing-thickness section is a first inclined face, and
the resin sealing member further has a decreasing-thickness section, the thickness of the decreasing thickness section decreases as a distance from the electrolyte is increased and the decreasing thickness section has a second inclined face on a side opposite to the electrolyte with respect to the increasing-thickness section.

4. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 3 , wherein the resin sealing member has a second increasing-thickness section, the thickness of the second increasing thickness section increases as a distance from the electrolyte is increased and the second increasing thickness section has a third inclined face on the side opposite to the electrolyte with respect to the decreasing-thickness section.

5. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein
the changing thickness section of the resin sealing member has a plurality of increasing-thickness sections and a plurality of decreasing-thickness sections;
the plurality of increasing-thickness sections and the plurality of decreasing-thickness sections are arrayed alternately toward a direction away from the electrolyte, and one of the plurality of increasing-thickness sections is provided at a position closest to the electrolyte in the resin sealing member.

6. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 2 , wherein the increasing-thickness section is in contact with the electrolyte.

7. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein the changing-thickness section is a first decreasing-thickness section, a thickness of the first decreasing-thickness section first decreasing as a distance from the electrolyte is increased and the decreasing-thickness section having an inclined face.

8. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 7 ,
wherein the first electrode of the pair of electrodes includes a third inclined surface, the third inclined surface being on a same side of the first electrode with respect to the first inclined surface,
wherein the resin sealing member further has a first increasing-thickness section, a thickness of the first increasing-thickness section increasing as a distance from the electrolyte is increased and the first increasing-thickness section having an inclined face is between the electrolyte and the first decreasing-thickness section, and
wherein the inclined face of the first decreasing-thickness section and the inclined face of the first increasing-thickness section come into contact with and oppose the first inclined surface and the third inclined surface of the first electrode of the pair of electrodes, respectively.

9. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 8 , wherein the resin sealing member further has a second decreasing-thickness section, a thickness of the second decreasing-thickness section decreasing as a distance from the electrolyte is increased and the second decreasing-thickness section having an inclined face on a side opposite to the electrolyte with respect to the first increasing-thickness section, and the inclined face of the resin sealing member comes into contact with and opposes the first inclined surface of the first electrode of the pair of electrodes.

10. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 8 , wherein
the resin sealing member has a plurality of decreasing-thickness sections including the first decreasing-thickness section and a plurality of increasing-thickness sections including the first increasing-thickness section; and
the plurality of decreasing-thickness sections and the plurality of increasing-thickness sections are alternately arrayed toward a direction of approaching the electrolyte.

11. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 3 , wherein a groove in the resin sealing member extends so as to intersect with a direction away from the electrolyte and the groove is formed by a face of contact between the increasing-thickness section and the first electrode, and a face of contact between the decreasing-thickness section and the first electrode.

12. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein a maximum thickness of the resin sealing member is 10 μm or greater.

13. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein both of the first electrode and the second electrode of the pair of electrodes have flexibility.

14. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein
the porous oxide semiconductor layer is provided on the conductive substrate;
an interface between the conductive substrate and the porous oxide semiconductor layer is a flat surface; and
a face of contact between the increasing-thickness section and the first electrode of the pair of electrodes is tilted with respect to the flat surface.

15. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to claim 1 , further comprising a cover section that covers at least a boundary between the sealing member and the pair of electrodes at a side opposite to the electrolyte with respect to the sealing member, wherein
the cover section

Assignees

• Fujikura Ltd

Inventors

• Doi Katsuhiro

Classifications

• H01G9/2077 Primary

  Sealing arrangements, e.g. to prevent the leakage of the electrolyte · CPC title

• H01G9/2031

  comprising titanium oxide, e.g. TiO2 (H01G9/2036 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01G9/2027

  comprising an oxide semiconductor electrode · CPC title

• H01G9/209

  Light trapping arrangements · CPC title

• H01L31/048

  Electricity · mapped topic