Simulation, Analysis, and Characterization of Calcium-Doped ZnO Nanostructures for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

In this research article, the authors have discussed the simulation, analysis, and characterization of calcium-doped zinc oxide (Ca-doped-ZnO) nanostructures for advanced generation solar cells. A comparative study has been performed to envisage the effect of Ca-doped ZnO nanoparticles (NP), seeded Ca-doped ZnO nanorods (NR), and unseeded Ca-doped ZnO NR as photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells. Simulations were performed in MATLAB fuzzy logic controller to study the effect of various structures on the overall solar cell efficiency. The simulation results show an error of less than 1% in between the simulated and calculated values. This work shows that the diameter of the seeded Ca-doped ZnO NR is greater than that of the unseeded Ca-doped ZnO NR. The incorporation of Ca in the ZnO nanostructure is confirmed using XRD graphs and an EDX spectrum. The optical band gap of the seeded substrate is 3.18 eV, which is higher compared to those of unseeded Ca-doped ZnO NR and Ca-doped ZnO NP, which are 3.16 eV and 3.13 ev, respectively. The increase in optical band gap results in the improvement of the overall solar cell efficiency of the seeded Ca-doped ZnO NR to 1.55%. The incorporation of a seed layer with Ca-doped ZnO NR increases the fill factor and the overall efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC).

Capsule‐shaped calcium and cobalt‐doped ZnO electrodes for high electrochemical supercapacitor performance

“…In addition, as compared to pure ZnO, the Ca‐ZnO and Ca‐Co@ZnO materials displayed changes in XRD intensities, which could represent grain modifications after the addition of Ca and Co elements to ZnO. Each XRD peak reflection, in theory, corresponds to a specific family of grains, and their intensities are proportional to the number of grains in the system 23 . The Debye Scherrer equation has been used to analyze the average crystallite size for synthesized materials.…”

“…Each XRD peak reflection, in theory, corresponds to a specific family of grains, and their intensities are proportional to the number of grains in the system. 23 The Debye Scherrer equation has been used to analyze the average crystallite size for synthesized materials. The resulting crystallite sizes of the ZnO, Ca-ZnO, Co-ZnO, and Ca-Co@ZnO were 17.16, 38.10, 33.3, and 38.48 nm, respectively.…”

Photovoltaic Solar Cells: A Review

“…The behaviour of a PV system can be simulated by various computer-based tools, such as MATLAB/Simulink [86], COMSOL Multiphysics [44], ANSYS [87], ABAQUS [88], and PCID [89], which is important to understand the operation of PV devices [90,91].…”

Role of artificial neural networks in predicting design and efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells

“…Shahzadi Tayyaba et al 77 studied the structural and optical properties of calcium doped zinc oxide nanoparticles with seeded and unseeded calcium doped zinc oxide nanorods. They performed the simulation using a fuzzy logic controller and reported an error of less than 1%.…”

“…In the domain of solar energy, the statistical, linear, non-linear, and fuzzy logic models are used for predicting the amount of solar energy absorbed by a dye and the design of a solar cell for achieving maximum efficiency. 76 Shahzadi Tayyaba et al 77 studied the structural and optical properties of calcium doped zinc oxide nanoparticles with seeded and unseeded calcium doped zinc oxide nanorods. They performed the simulation using a fuzzy logic controller and reported an error of less than 1%.…”