Abstract:
The natural dye pigment of blueberry was extracted from its peals using our own acetonitrile
assisted method and used in a liquid electrolyte free natural dye sensitized solid solar cell (NDSSSC) which
exhibited he highest efficiency (ɳ) of 1.7% and short circuit current density (Jsc = 11 mA/cm2) for the
blueberry dye sensitized any type of solar cell. Natural dyes are always inexpensive, nontoxic and reliable
sources that can be used in photovoltaic application as a cheap alternative for commercial expensive
synthetic dyes. The typical problems of stability of natural pigments and the unreliability, expensiveness
and the toxicity of the iodide / tri-iodide electrolyte were addressed by introducing a deposition of p-CuI
on dye incorporated nanoporous TiO2 films from a solution containing a crystal growth
inhibitor Triethylammine Hydrothiocyanate (THT) by drop casting method in order to make a NDSSSC. I-V
characteristics and impedance measurements were carried out to investigate the photovoltaic
performance and further characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy and SEM. Stability
measurements were carried out for a period of 30 days and promisingly showed a good stability
