title: A Solar Cell That Is Triggered by Sun and Rain.
abstract: All-weather solar cells are promising in solving the energy crisis. A flexible solar cell is presented that is triggered by combining an electron-enriched graphene electrode with a dye-sensitized solar cell. The new solar cell can be excited by incident light on sunny days and raindrops on rainy days, yielding an optimal solar-to-electric conversion efficiency of 6.53 % under AM 1.5 irradiation and current over microamps as well as a voltage of hundreds of microvolts by simulated raindrops. The formation of π-electron|cation electrical double-layer pseudocapacitors at graphene/raindrop interface is contributable to current and voltage outputs at switchable charging-discharging process. The new concept can guide the design of advanced all-weather solar cells.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, P.R. China. tangqunwei@ouc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qunwei
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaopeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Advanced Technique & Preparation for Renewable Energy Materials, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, 650500, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Peizhi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Benlin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: He
keywords: all-weather solar cells; counter electrodes; energy conversion; graphene electrodes