Outdoor and diurnal performance of large conformal flexible metal/plastic dye solar cells

We carried out an investigation on the performance of a conformal curved large area, flexible, metal/plastic dye solar cells in outdoor conditions. We calculated the energy produced by the flexible cells over the course of a diurnal cycle utilizing their peculiar property of being able to be conformed to curved surfaces. The total electrical energy E produced and energy produced per unit of occupied surface (i.e. footprint) E* over the course of a whole day were extracted from flat cells placed facing South with a 60 tilt angle and also for cells conformal to a cylindrical curve surface. For R-CURV = 13.5 cm an enhancement of 3.3% and 7.9% respectively for E and E* was observed with respect to the cell positioned flat. The enhancement in E* was even greater (9.1%) when RCURV = 5.5 cm. Mechanisms induced by curving the device and leading to this enhancement were analyzed. These results that show up to similar to 10% enhancement of energy produced (per unit of occupied projected area) compared to flat devices demonstrate the attractiveness and possibilities of DSC technology for all those applications where devices handiness, flexibility and conformability are required. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.