Improved Photochemical Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell using Tectona grandis and Magnifera indica Dye Mix

Abstract

Onen Alfred Ikpi, Etim Emmanuel Edet*, Abah Abah Victor, Ogofotha Godwin Oghenekeno

The generation of electrical energy from photo-voltaic conversions was achieved by fabricating a variety of dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSC) using natural dye extracts from Magnifera indica (M. Indica) and Tectona grandis (T. Grandis). This study explores the spectral characteristics of the dyes in Ultraviolet, Visible and infrared regions. An Incident Photon-Current Efficiency (IPCE) of η = 0.0307% was obtained with a short circuit current of up to Jsc = 6.597 mA cm^–2, an open circuit voltage of Voc = 0.05 V and a fill factor of 0.537 for the DSSC using the mixed dye. DSSC from M. Indica showed the highest open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.1V. The efficiency for the DSSC when dyes were individually used was 0.0004 and 0.0241% for T. Grandis and M. Indica dyes respectively.