Performance of Photovoltaic of Solar Cell Based on Natural and Synthetic Dye

Abstract

Dye-sensitized photovoltaic solar cells were developed to obtain high efficiency ​​by replacing the sensitizer, semiconductor, and modifying it with polymer electrolyte. In this study, an evaluation of natural dyes derived from sappan wood (Caesalpinia sappan L.) and synthetic dyes strawberry red was carried out to increase the efficiency of DSSC performance with the addition of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles as a semiconductor. The DSSC assembly uses natural and synthetic dyes for the applied counter electrode to obtain maximum energy conversion efficiency. The value of efficiency and other electrical parameters as photovoltaic performance is obtained by measuring the performance of the cell by considering the photoelectrochemical output and measuring current and voltage. FTIR and UV-Vis were used to determine the compounds contained in natural and synthetic dyes. Testing the crystallinity of TiO₂ anatase was measured using X-Ray Diffraction, while an atomic force microscope was used to test the surface topography of the counter-electrode plate containing dye. The result of UV-vis measurement of natural dyes shows that two maximum wavelengths of synthetic dyes are 488 nm (Brazilin), 540 nm (Brazillein), and synthetic dyes containing anthocyanins (510 nm). The XRD diffractogram revealed that TiO₂ was formed with the standard anatase phase (JCPDS) 21-1272. The surface topography of the PVSC plate shows that the dye in TiO₂ is evenly distributed. The energy efficiency conversion of synthetic dye exhibited more greater than natural dye. Thus, it can be concluded that strawberry red dye have potential as good dye sensitizers for DSSC.