Ruthenium complexes based dye sensitized solar cells: Fundamentals and research trends

Dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is one of the most capable solar cell devices to transform sunlight directly into electricity. DSSC can revolutionize the solar energy industry due to its unique features and has attracted a lot of attention towards this alternative solar cell technology. DSSC can be manufactured with low-cost materials, easy manufacturing methods, less toxic materials, and most important, allocating feasibility of solar cell fabrication at a low cost as compared to traditional solar cells. The NREL certified power conversion efficiency (PCE) for DSSC is 12.3%, whereas the lab-scale PCE has reached 14.3%. In this paper, we present an introduction and classification of PV technologies and a brief description of DSSC development particularly ruthenium complexes based DSSC. This review also presents the structure, operational principle of DSSC and includes the essential criteria for the components of DSSC to offer a vision for the design of highly efficient DSSC. The research progress made in sensitizers especially in ruthenium complexes based have been summarized with their efficiency, dye structure, short circuit current (Isc), open circuit voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF).