Polymer gel electrolytes based on poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) and poly(acrylonitrile-co-butadiene) (PAB) or poly(dimethylsiloxane) bis(3-aminopropyl)-terminated (PDES-bAP) copolymers were prepared and investigated in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Selected optical and electrochemical properties of all compositions with various ratio from 9:1 to 6:4 were investigated towards DSSC applications. The highest value of power conversion efficiency equal to 5.07% was found for DSSCs containing a PVDF-HPF:PAB (9:1) gel electrolyte. Compositions of electrolytes were additionally tested by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The influence of the ratio and type of polymers used as an additive to PVDF-HPF on absorption wavelengths, energy gap, and Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO) and Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (LUMO) levels were investigated. Individual components of DSSCs, such as the TiO₂ layer and platinum nanoparticles, were imaged by scanning electron microscope. Finally, a DSSC module with six electrically separated solar cells with a 7 × 80 mm² active area was constructed based on gel electrolytes and tested.

The main efficiency loss is caused by an intensive recombination process at the interface of fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) and electrolyte in dye-sensitized solar cells. Electrons from the photoanode can be injected back to the redox electrolyte and, thus, can reduce the short circuit current. To avoid this, the effect of the electron blocking layer (EBL) was studied. An additional thin film of magnetron sputtered TiO₂ was deposited directly onto the FTO glass. The obtained EBL was characterized by atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, optical profilometry, energy dispersive spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometry. The results of the current–voltage characteristics showed that both the short circuit current (I_sc) and fill factor (FF) increased. Compared to traditional dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) architecture, the power conversion efficiency (η) increased from 4.67% to 6.07% for samples with a 7 × 7 mm² active area and from 2.62% to 3.06% for those with an area of 7 × 80 mm².

The importance of the radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology and photovoltaic (PV) systems has been growing systematically in the modern world full of intelligent products connected to the Internet. Monitoring parameters of green energy plants is a crucial issue for efficient conversion of solar radiation, and cheap RFID transponders/sensors can be involved in this process to provide better performance of module supervision in scattered installations. Since many components of PV panels disturb the radio-wave propagation, research in the antenna scope has to be carried out to reach the proposed fusion. The problem with RFID transponders being detuned in close proximity to glass or metal surfaces can be solved on the basis of solutions known from the scientific literature. The authors went further, revealing a new antenna construction that can be fabricated straight on a cover glass of the PV panels. To achieve the established task, they incorporated advantages from the latest advancements in materials technology and low-power electronics and from the progress in understanding radio-wave propagation phenomena. The numerical model of the antenna was elaborated in the Hyper Lynx 3D EM software environment, and test samples were fabricated on the technology line of ML System Company. The convergence of calculated and measured antenna parameters confirms the design correctness. Thus, the studied antenna can be used to elaborate the cheap semipassive RFID transponders/sensors in the PV panel production lines.