Abstract. This study investigated the relationship between the anthocyanin concentration in a series of organic fruit species and the photoelectrochemical performance of the TiO 2 dyesensitized solar cells (DSSCs) sensitized by these dyes. It was hypothesized that organic dyes with a greater anthocyanin concentration have higher fill factors (FFs) and maximum output power (P MAX ), which would lead to higher energy conversion efficiency. Anthocyanin dye solution was extracted from eight test fruits using water as the extracting solvent. Using these test organic dyes, multiple DSSCs were assembled such that light entered through the TiO 2 side of the cell. The full current-voltage (I-V) covariations were measured at various incremental resistance values. Defining P MAX as the dependent variable, a series of linear, semi-logarithmic, quadratic, and finally power law regression models were used to investigate the relationship between anthocyanin concentration and photoelectrochemical performance. Regression analysis demonstrated that the power law model (R 2 = 0.86) was the best fit and experimentally sound model to predict the relationship between P MAX and anthocyanin concentration. Based on this model, anthocyanin content and P MAX relation approaches zero for zero concentration and follows a sublinear increase for higher concentration. Dyes extracted from blueberry and black raspberry with the highest anthocyanin content generated higher P MAX with better FF and conversion efficiency. Estimating these linear and power law models is the first step in finding organic anthocyanin sources in nature that have the highest dye content to efficiently generate energy. C 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).

This study investigated the relationship of anthocyanin concentration from different organic fruit species and output voltage and current in a TiO 2 dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and hypothesized that fruits with greater anthocyanin concentration produce higher maximum power point (MPP) which would lead to higher current and voltage. Anthocyanin dye solution was made with crushing of a group of fresh fruits with different anthocyanin content in 2 mL of de-ionized water and filtration. Using these test fruit dyes, multiple DSSCs were assembled such that light enters through the TiO 2 side of the cell. The full current-voltage (I-V) co-variations were measured using a 500 Ω potentiometer as a variable load. Point-by point current and voltage data pairs were measured at various incremental resistance values. The maximum power point (MPP) generated by the solar cell was defined as a dependent variable and the anthocyanin concentration in the fruit used in the DSSC as the independent variable. A regression model was used to investigate the linear relationship between study variables. Regression analysis showed a significant linear relationship between MPP and anthocyanin concentration with a p-value of 0.007. Fruits like blueberry and black raspberry with the highest anthocyanin content generated higher MPP. In a DSSC, a linear model may predict MPP based on the anthocyanin concentration. This model is the first step to find organic anthocyanin sources in the nature with the highest dye concentration to generate energy.

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