Photovoltaic cell

Abstract

A photovoltaic cell including: (a) a housing adapted to enclose the photovoltaic cell, and including an at least partially transparent cell wall; (b) an electrolyte, disposed within the cell wall, and containing a corrosive redox species; (c) an at least partially transparent conductive coating disposed on an interior surface of the cell wall, within the photovoltaic cell; (d) an anode disposed on the conductive coating, the anode including a porous film adapted to make intimate contact with the redox species, and a dye, absorbed on a surface of the porous film, the dye and the film adapted to convert photons to electrons; (e) a cathode, disposed within an interior surface of the housing and disposed substantially opposite the anode, including a conductive carbon layer, and a catalytic component, associated with the carbon layer and adapted to catalyze a redox reaction, the carbon layer adapted to transfer electrons from the catalytic component to a current collection component of the cathode, and (f) at least one metal strip or wire, electrically associated with the anode and with the conductive coating, the strip or wire having sufficient thickness to form a protrusion protruding above a plane of the porous film by at least 50 micrometers, wherein a distance between a surface of the catalytic component and a surface of the porous film is less than 20 micrometers.

1 . A photovoltaic cell for converting a light source into electricity at a reduced ohmic loss, the cell comprising:
 (a) a housing adapted to enclose the photovoltaic cell, said housing including an at least partially transparent cell wall, said cell wall having an interior surface and an exterior surface;   (b) an electrolyte, disposed within said cell wall, said electrolyte containing an iodine based redox species;   (c) an at least partially transparent conductive coating disposed on said interior surface of said cell wall, within the photovoltaic cell;   (d) an anode disposed on said conductive coating, said anode including:
 (i) a porous film adapted to make intimate contact with said redox species, and 
 (ii) a dye, absorbed on a surface of said porous film, said dye and said film adapted to convert photons to electrons; 
   (e) a cathode disposed within an interior surface of said housing, said cathode disposed substantially opposite said anode, said cathode including:
 (i) a conductive carbon layer, and 
 (ii) a catalytic component, associated with said carbon layer and adapted to catalyze a redox reaction of said redox species, 
   said conductive carbon layer adapted to transfer electrons from said catalytic component to a current collection component of said cathode,   said conductive carbon layer and said catalytic component disposed in electrolytic communication, via said electrolyte, with said porous film, and   (f) at least one metal strip or wire, electrically associated with said anode and with said conductive coating, said strip or wire having sufficient thickness to form a protrusion protruding above a plane of said porous film by at least 50 micrometers,   and wherein a distance between a surface of said catalytic component and a surface of said porous film is less than 20 micrometers.   
     
     
         2 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 1 , wherein said cathode is mechanically supported by said cell wall in a monolithic configuration. 
     
     
         3 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 1 , wherein said distance is an average distance between said surface of said catalytic component and said surface of said porous film. 
     
     
         4 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 1 , wherein said distance is achieved over at least 80% of the cell surface area. 
     
     
         5 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 1 , wherein said distance is less than 15 micrometers. 
     
     
         6 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 1 , said strip or wire having sufficient thickness to protrude above a plane of said porous film by at least 80 micrometers. 
     
     
         7 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 (g) a porous separator layer interdisposed between at least a portion of said porous film of said anode and at least a portion of said catalytic component of said cathode, said porous separator layer adapted to physically separate and electrically insulate between said porous film and said cathode.   
     
     
         8 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 7 , said porous separator layer including a spacing element that is physically distinct with respect to said porous film of said anode. 
     
     
         9 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 7 , wherein said porous separator layer is attached to said porous film of said anode. 
     
     
         10 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 1 , said conductive carbon layer and said catalytic component forming self-supporting strips. 
     
     
         11 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 10 , said self-supporting strips being solely physically associated with a porous separator layer interdisposed between said porous film of said anode and said catalytic component of said cathode. 
     
     
         12 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 1 , said at least one metal strip or wire is a plurality of strips or wires, and said protrusion is a plurality of protrusions. 
     
     
         13 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 12 , said conductive carbon layer and said catalytic component forming self-supporting strips, said strips disposed between said protrusions. 
     
     
         14 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 13 , said strips disposed between said protrusions to make a surface of said catalytic component substantially flush with an opposing surface. 
     
     
         15 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 10 , said self-supporting strips being physically associated with, and juxtaposed against, a porous separator layer interdisposed between said porous film of said anode and said catalytic component of said cathode. 
     
     
         16 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 7 , wherein said at least one metal strip or wire is a plurality of strips or wires, said protrusion is a plurality of protrusions, and said porous separator layer is discontinuous, whereby, between adjacent protrusions of said protrusions, said catalytic component is juxtaposed against said porous film of said anode. 
     
     
         17 . A photovoltaic cell for converting a light source into electricity at a reduced ohmic loss, the cell comprising:
 (a) a housing adapted to enclose the photovoltaic cell, said housing including an at least partially transparent cell wall, said cell wall having an interior surface and an exterior surface;   (b) an electrolyte, disposed within said cell wall, said electrolyte containing an iodine based redox species;   (c) an at least partially transparent conductive coating disposed on said interior surface of said cell wall, within the photovoltaic cell;   (d) an anode disposed on said conductive coating, said anode including:
 (i) a porous film adapted to make intimate contact with said redox species, and 
 (ii) a dye, absorbed on a surface of said porous film, said dye and said film adapted to convert photons to electrons; 
   (e) a cathode disposed within an interior surface of said housing, said cathode disposed substantially opposite said anode, said cathode including:
 (i) a conductive carbon layer, and 
 (ii) a catalytic component, associated with said carbon layer and adapted to catalyze a redox reaction of said redox species, 
   said conductive carbon layer adapted to transfer electrons from said catalytic component to a current collection component of said cathode,   said conductive carbon layer and said catalytic component disposed in electrolytic communication, via said electrolyte, with said porous film, and   (f) at least one electrically-conductive structural component, disposed within said conductive carbon layer, said structural component having a specific resistivity below 1200 microohm·cm, said component adapted and disposed to collect current from said cathode,   and wherein a footprint of a single cell of the photovoltaic cell is defined by a length and a width of said single cell,   and wherein both said length and said width exceed 5 centimeters.   
     
     
         18 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 17 , wherein said conductive carbon layer has a thickness of at least 50 micrometers. 
     
     
         19 . The photovoltaic cell of  claim 17 , wherein said structural component is at least one continuous component at least partially buried in said conductive carbon layer. 
     
     
         20 . A photovoltaic cell for converting a light source into electricity at a reduced ohmic loss, the cell comprising:
 (a) a housing adapted to enclose the photovoltaic cell, said housing including an at least partially transparent cell wall, said cell wall having an interior surface and an exterior surface;   (b) an electrolyte, disposed within said cell wall, said electrolyte containing a redox species;   (c) an at least partially transparent conductive coating disposed on said interior surface of said cell wall, within the photovoltaic cell;   (d) an anode disposed on said conductive coating, said anode including:
 (i) a porous film adapted to make intimate contact with said redox species, and 
 (ii) a dye, absorbed on a surface of said porous film, said dye and said film adapted to convert photons to electrons; 
   (e) a cathode disposed within an interior surface of said housing, said cathode disposed substantially opposite said anode, said cathode including:
 (i) a conductive carbon layer, and 
 (ii) a catalytic component, associated with said carbon layer and adapted to catalyze a redox reaction of said redox species, 
   said conductive carbon layer adapted to transfer electrons from said catalytic component to a current collection component of said cathode,   said conductive carbon layer and said catalytic component disposed in electrolytic communication, via said electrolyte, with said porous film, and   (f) at least one metal strip or wire, electrically associated with said anode and with said conductive coating, said strip or wire having sufficient thickness to form a protrusion protruding above a plane of said porous film by at least 50 micrometers,   and wherein a distance between a surface of said catalytic component and a surface of said porous film is less than 20 micrometers.