SBIR Phase I: Scalable fabrication of mesoporous thin-films for production of efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to apply a specialized method to develop a rapid, large-scale and inexpensive thin film deposition technology. The goal is to enable the low-cost mass production and maintain the optimized nanostructures and film properties of efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. The broader societal/commercial impact of this project will be the potential to reduce production costs of materials used in dye-sensitized solar cells. Compared to other solar cell technologies, dye-sensitized solar cell technology has the potential of (1) low cost due to the abundance of elements that constitute the cell; (2) lightweight thus reduced installation cost and enhanced flexibility. However, recent advances in photovoltaics industry set a cost standard of $1/Watt. If dye-sensitized solar cells were to be at par with current technologies on the market, the cost of thin film deposition has to be reduced. This project targets on the development of a high-throughput and large-scale thin film deposition process, which will make the solar electricity via dye-sensitized technology more cost-effective and thus more available.