The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) is a photovoltaic converter that mimics natural photosynthesis. Like green plants and algae it uses a molecular absorber, the dye, to harvest sunlight and generate electric charges. Dyesensitized solar cells are poised to replace existing technologies in "low density" solar-energy applications, especially in contexts where mechanical robustness and light weight is required. This book offers the first comprehensive look at this promising technology and aims to provide both a graduate level text that brings together the fundamentals of DSC from three perspectives (materials, performance, and mechanistic aspects), as well as to serve as an advanced monograph that summarizes the key advances and lists the technical challenges remaining to be solved.

Photochemical and Photoelectrochemical Approaches to Energy Conversion – Titania in Diverse Forms as Substrates – Molecular Engineering of Sensitizers for Conversion of Solar Energy into Electricity – Optimization of Redox Mediators and Electrolytes – Photosensitization of Sno2 snd Other Oxides – Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Incorporating Molecular Hole-Transporters – Packaging, Scale-Up and Commercialization of Dye Solar Cells – How to Make High-Efficiency Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells – Scale-Up and Product-Development Studies of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells in Asia and Europe – Characterization and Modeling of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: a Toolbox Approach – Dynamics of Interfacial and Surface Electron Transfer Processes – Impedance Spectroscopy: a General Introduction and Application to Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells – Theoretical and Model System Calculations

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