Effects of power converters on dye-sensitized solar cells

The paper investigates the effect produced by power electronics converters on the power supplied by Photovoltaic modules. In particular, the frequency response of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is experimentally achieved and then compared, by means of simulation tests, to that obtained with an electrical model for Grätzel cells. Moreover, the paper proposes a current control algorithm for a quasi-resonant Zero Current Switch (ZCS) DC-DC boost converter suitable to reduce the energy loss due to the power conversion and extract, in every operating situation, the maximum possible energy from the photovoltaic cells.