Fabrication and Characterization of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Using Blackberry Dye and Titanium Dioxide Nanocrystals

In this work, a prototype of dye-sensitized solar cell using organic dye from blackberry and semiconductor TiO₂ nanocrystals was studied. The cell was fabricated using materials locally obtained in Indonesia (except the transparent conducting oxide glass), and using technologies available in-house in laboratories in University of Pelita Harapan. The cell was tested in an own-constructed dark box by irradiation with halogen lamp of 20 Watt/220 Volt with intensity of 3.58 W/m² at a distance of 20 cm. The characterization of the cell gives I-V characteristics with open circuit voltage of 192.60 mV, short circuit current of 27.45 μA, fill factor of 29.88 %, and energy efficiency of 0.196 %. The solar cell shows degradation in performance with open circuit voltage and short circuit current degrading exponentially with degradation coefficient of 9.38 minutes and 23.49 minutes, respectively.