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Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC/DSC) 2013-2023: Technologies, Markets, Players

Technology and market appraisal

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According to market projections by IDTechEx, the market for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) will slowly grow to over $130 million by 2023.
 
Although initial products are aimed towards indoor and portable applications, starting out with chargers and solar bags with wireless solar keyboards demonstrated more recently, the end game for DSSCs is the ability to have these largely inexpensive solar cells incorporated into much bigger installations. For that purpose, development work is being undertaken in order to produce prototypes and demonstrators of DSSCs being utilised in applications such as bus shelters, steel roofing and others such as facades, semi-transparent windows etc.
 
Current and envisaged future products incorporating dye sensitized solar cells
 
 
Source: IDTechEx
 
DSSCs represent, together with organic photovoltaics (OPVs) the third generation of solar technologies which are expected to usher a new era of added functionality and lowered costs, adding to the overall value proposition of solar power generation. In the short term, incumbent technologies will outperform emerging solar cell platforms, both in terms of performance and cost structure due to economies of scale achieved. Hence, developers of DSSCs will need to identify niche markets that will allow for seeding further growth in later years. Although, as with all emerging technologies, cost benefits are not necessarily immediately obvious due to low volume production, it is of interest to adopters, technology developers but also equipment and materials providers to closely follow the developments in this space in order to be able to better understand the way the market for DSSCs is growing and the impact these solar cells will have on the market for sustainable energy generation.
 
The main issues that DSSC technologies have to solve relate to performance limitations: in lifetime and efficiency. There is a clear handicap in best performance achieved by DSSCs when compared to technologies that have been under development for longer and have achieved much better efficiency levels. On the other hand and on a more positive note, it's also obvious that the performance gap with amorphous Silicon, one of the incumbent technologies, has closed dramatically in recent years, especially in indoor applications. It is thus, important to identify the best fitting initial applications for DSSCs, as the first ones to target in order to achieve faster commercialization.
 
The market sectors for which forecasts are given in this report are divided into:
  • Automotive
  • Outdoor advertising /posters /awnings
  • POP smart labels, posters indoors
  • Mobile devices
  • Electronics in apparel and emergency and military
  • Other portable electronics, disposable electronics
  • Wireless sensors/actuators
  • PV for developing countries
  • BIPV
  • Other large projects and utilities
 
The automotive sector seems to be taking off slowly, being one that is more stringent in terms of requirements of lifetime and efficiency performance from solar technologies, leading to just a few million dollars in market value by 2020.
Forecasted growth of DSSCs in different market segments (in $ million)
 
 
Source: IDTechEx
 
On the other hand, in other portable electronics, especially for indoor applications and with a multitude of different applications expected to be developed in the next few years, a $5 million in market share is expected by 2017, which is expected to grow 6-fold by 2023.
Who should buy this report?
DSSC companies, materials and equipment companies, other PV companies (thin film PVs, c-Si, OPVs) in order to understand competition from DSSCs. Potential adopters/integrators that can understand the markets that can be addressed when utilizing DSSC technology.
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1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1.Table of forecasts for growth of DSSCs in different market segments (in $ million) 2013-2023
1.1.Graph of forecasted growth of DSSCs in different market segments (in $ million) in 2013-2023
1.2.Schematic of the basic structure and operating principle of a dye sensitized cell
1.3.Current and envisaged future products incorporating dye sensitized solar cells
2.DYE SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS: STRUCTURE AND PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
2.1.DSSC Variants
2.1."Popcorn ball" nanostructured ZnO, studied at the university of Washington for its application on dye sensitized cells
2.1.1.Liquid electrolyte DSSCs
2.1.2.Solid State DSSCs
2.1.3.Sensitizing dyes
2.1.4.Electrolytes
2.2.Principle of operation of DSSCs
2.3.Cross-section micrograph of TiO2 film; A (compact layer), B (nanoporous layer),L (scattering layer)
2.4.Conventional liquid-electrolyte-based DSSC, with a cell thickness of around 10 μm. b. Oxford Photovoltaics' solid-state DSSC, with a cell thickness of around 2 μm. A compact underlayer is required to prevent direct contact between
2.5.Photocurrent action spectra obtained with the N3 and the black dye as sensitizer. The photocurrent response of a bare TiO2 film is also shown for comparison
2.6.Molecular structure of some dyes based on ruthenium complexes
2.7.SONY's "concerto" effect
3.MANUFACTURING OF DSSCS
3.1.Roll to roll processing of DSSCs
3.2.DSSC manufacturing process
3.3.Efficiency of DSSCs depending on sintering temperature of titania
3.4.Resistivity of (a) FTO, (b) ITO and (c) FTO coated ITO over a range of processing temperatures
3.5.Glass-based DSSC cell structure from SolarPrint
3.6.Thin films deposited by ALD for various solar cell concepts: (a) surface passivation layer for c-Si solar cells; (b) encapsulation and Cd-free buffer layer for CIGS solar cells; (c) encapsulation of flexible OPV cells; (d) barrier
4.DEVELOPMENT ROADMAPS FOR EFFICIENCY AND LIFETIME CHARACTERISTICS OF DSSC DEVICES
4.1.Advances in the design of dyes and electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells have led to record power-conversion efficiencies
4.2.Champion outdoor efficiency roadmap
4.3.Champion indoor efficiency roadmap.
5.PRODUCTS INCORPORATING DYE SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS
5.1.Solar bag incorporating DSSCs
5.2.Solar powered blind & shade system
5.3.The Logitech® Foli
5.4.Further products envisaged, incorporating DSSC
5.5.Energy harvesting and wireless switches in the build environment
5.6.Detail of the DSSC powered wireless CO2, Temperature and Humidity sensor
6.FORECASTS FOR DSSC MARKET GROWTH
6.1.Table of forecasts for growth of DSSCs in different market segments (in $ million) 2013-2023
6.1.Automotive Integration
6.1.Graph of forecasted growth of DSSCs in different market segments (in $ million) in 2013-2023
6.2.Expected power output (in Watts) per DSSC unit cell for different applications, 2013-2023
6.2.The DSSC opportunity for automotive integration
6.2.Expected power output (in Watts) per DSSC unit cell for different applications, 2013-2023
6.3.Number of solar cells sold into each market vertical 2013-2023
6.3.Outdoor advertising /posters /awnings - POP smart labels, posters indoors
6.3.Number of solar cells sold into each market vertical 2013-2023
6.4.Total power (in MW) generated by DSSCs in each market vertical, 2013-2023
6.4.Mobile devices
6.4.Total power (in MW) generated by DSSCs in each market vertical, 2013-2023
6.5.Wireless sensors/actuators - wireless sensor networks
6.5.Solar generator integrated onto the roof of a car
6.6.Solar bus shelter from GoGreenSolar
6.6.Building integrated photovoltaics- Other large projects and utilities
6.7.Concepts of DSSCs integrated in shelves in order to power POP smart labels
6.8.Demonstrators of indoor retail posters incorporating photovoltaic functionality
6.9.DSSC light absorption spectrum
6.10.Maximum power output under fluorescent lighting
6.11.Samsung Blue Earth
6.12.The Loki solar phone by Nokia, utilized in the company's solar charging project
6.13.Harvested power versus illumination conditions
6.14.DSSC-powered Wireless CO2, Temperature and Humidity Sensor co-developed
6.15.Conceptual representation of building integrated DSSCs
6.16.Electronics Skin technology based on electrophoresis, developed by Philips. Demonstration of transparent state and dark state
7.DSSC COMPANY PROFILES
7.1.3G Solar
7.1.3G Solar DSSC cell
7.2.Dyesol's largest ever DSC on steel roofing material module
7.2.CSIRO
7.3.Dyesol
7.3.A solar bus shelter manufactured at the Shotton, North Wales facilities in 2011
7.4.Module of dye-sensitized solar cells
7.4.Fujikura
7.5.G24i Power
7.5.Timeline of G24i Power' main developments
7.6.Different colour and semi-transparent DSSCs from Nissha Printing
7.6.Nissha Printing
7.7.Oxford Photovoltaics
7.7.Graph demonstrating that stable voltage can be obtained from DSSCs regardless of the incidence angle of the sun
7.8.DSSCs and their classification by use
7.8.S Samsung SDI
7.9.SHARP
7.9.DSSC manufacturing process
7.10.Solid state DSSCs by Oxford Photovoltaics
7.10.Solaronix
7.11.SolarPrint
7.11.SolarPrint Beta Power management solution
7.12.Power output vs. Lux Level for a-Si and DSSC
7.12.SONY Technology Centre
7.13.TiSol
7.13.Light levels in a typical office
7.14.The combined performance of the two dyes was greater than the sum of their individual performance levels. Because the dyes seemed to resonate together to produce an enhanced effect, Sony dubbed this method the "Concerto Effect"
7.15.Demonstrated at Eco Product 2010, the beautifully designed solar panel by SONY uses screen printing to generate custom designs according to the consumer's preferences
7.16.As an exploration of the graphical potential of solar cells produced through printing technology, these prototype panels are brightened by marigold designs
APPENDIX 1: IDTECHEX PUBLICATIONS AND CONSULTANCY
TABLES
FIGURES
 

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Report Statistics

Pages 71
Tables 5
Figures 57
Forecasts to 2023
 

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