Since their discovery, Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) are at the foremost research which deals with the conversation of solar to electrical energy. Nevertheless, many question marks are still open despite the intensive study in the field. In particular, one of the parameters that influence the activity of the cell is the electron transport in the nanoporous TiO₂ films.These processes are not well understood especially under operation conditions of the cell.

We are developing a unique method that will open a new window to the most internal events taking place during the operation of the dye cell. This method will enable us to simultaneously determine the exact position of both the Fermi level (E_F) and the conduction band (E_CB)of the semiconductor, by parallel measurements of the photovoltaic parameters and the semiconductor conductivity in an operating cell. Our technique is based on depositing the TiO₂ film on a transparent conductive substrate with a narrow non-conducting gap. This gap is covered by TiO₂ particles thus allowing measurements of the electrons flow between the two parts of the electrode.

Finding E_CB as a function of the photovoltage will be applied for the understanding of the effect of various manipulations of the electrodes, including particles size, sintering procedure and coating. Finally, impedance spectroscopy will add more detailed view of the electron transport processes.

All these findings will dramatically improve our understanding of the basic events in operating cells. The method and new results will be presented.