Third generation’ PV
technologies have been developed to pursue high power
conversion efficiency (PCE) and low cost, these include lightcondensed
cells, organic PVs (OPVs), dye-sensitized solar
cells (DSSCs), organic–inorganic hybrid solar cells, and so
on. The large flexibility in the shape, color and transparency
of third generation solar cells, particularly DSSCs, makes
them one of the most promising technologies for photo-toelectricity
conversion applications [4–8]. Currently, in the
laboratory, DSSCs have reached 13% efficiency under standard
reporting conditions [9], providing a credible alternative
to the conventional p–n junction PV devices. The major
disadvantage in DSSC design is the use of a liquid electrolyte,
which suffers from temperature stability problems. Replacing
the liquid electrolyte with a solid one is a major, ongoing field
of research. Not only the stability, but also the open circuit
voltage of a DSSC could be expected to improve when a
solid-state hole transfer material (HTM) is used.