Environment approachable dye sensitized solar cell using abundant natural pigment based dyes with solid polymer electrolyte

In the present work dye sensitized solar cells were fabricated using natural pigment based dye extracted from different fruits as 'sensitizer'. The photovoltaic properties of FTO coated thin film and extracted natural dyes were studied using UV-vis-NIR spectroscope. FTO coated subtract showed complete transmittance above 350 nm wavelength that is wide-ranging visible region and above wavelength, which is the desired property for solar cells. The extracted fruits and plants dye showed absorption up to 600 nm wavelength of incident light with wide range abssorption. The TiO2 thin films were prepared on FTO coated conducting substrate using doctor blade technique as photo anode while fruits and plants dye extracted in ethanol was used as sensitizes. The fabricated solar cells were characterized using Keithley source meter which shows that photovoltaic performance is relatively compared with popular expensive dyes i.e. N3, black and ruthenium.