Plant Seeds-Based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

In this work, we investigate the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on natural dyes extracted from ten different plant seeds. The extracts were characterized by UV-VIS absorption spectra. The solar cells were assembled using a TiO2 mesoporous film on FTO-coated glass. The photovoltaic properties of the DSSCs were studied under an incident irradiation of 100 mW/cm2. The best performance was for the DSSC sensitized with Eruca sativa with a solar energy conversion efficiency of 0.725%. Moreover, the validity of these extracts was compared using two types of semiconductor layers (TiO2 and ZnO), and finally the photovoltaic properties of one of these dyes were studied using different types of electrolytes.