Solar energy conversion and storage: Fast Green FCF-Fructose photogalvanic cell

• Fast Green FCF dye-Fructose was studied for enhancing performance of the cell.
• Observed short-circuit current and power are 380 μA and 138.6 μW, respectively.
• The obtained results are highly encouraging.
• Fast Green FCF-Fructose system enhances the performance of the cell.
• This system may be the basis for further advancement of this technology.

Photogalvanic cells are photoelectrochemical devices involving ions as mobile charges moving in solution through diffusion process. These cells are capable of solar power generation at low cost with inherent storage capacity. This property of photogalvanic cell needs to be exploited as this technology is cleaner and promising for application in daily life. Therefore, a photogalvanic cell consisting of Fast Green FCF as photosensitizer, Fructose as reductant and NaOH as alkaline medium has been studied with observed value of maximum potential 1083 mV, maximum photocurrent 431 μA, short-circuit current 380 μA, power at power point 138.60 μW, efficiency 1.33%, and storage capacity (as half change time) 70 min. The observed results are higher and encouraging enough for ultimate aim of development of applicable and affordable photogalvanic cells in future.