Semester
Summer
Date of Graduation
2008
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Committee Chair
James Smith.
Abstract
Inorganic photovoltaic cells have been in production for many years, but the silicon production process is expensive, so solar technology is cost prohibitive for all but niche markets. A more cost effective alternative would open usage of solar power production to more applications and make the cost to produce electricity more affordable. Inorganic solar cells could potentially be the lower cost alternative to conventional solar technology, but efficiency and durability are still not high enough for successful competition.;Other research has investigated how to improve individual aspects of dye sensitized solar cells. This work evaluated six primary factors of material and fabrication methods. Both the main factors and their two-level interactions were considered using designed experiments and regression analysis to evaluate which impacted maximum power production to the greatest extent. The experiment determined that three factors were of the greatest importance; use of catalyst, method of application of semi-conductive layer, and temperature. No two-level interactions were determined to be of statistical significance.
Recommended Citation
Hamrick, Todd Robert, "Characterization of key performance parameters in dye sensitized solar cells using a designed experiment" (2008). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 1906.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/1906