Liquid electrolytes employing fluorescent perylene are prepared and applied in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Due to the excellent down-shifting property of perylene, photons with short wavelength (from about 350 to 440 nm) can be absorbed and then converted to ones with longer wavelength (from 450 nm to 550 nm) which can be more efficiently utilized by DSSCs. As a result, device with optimal concentration of 0.05 M perylene presents an efficient improvement in the short-circuit current density (J(SC)), leading to an increase of 11.6% in the power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared with the reference DSSC based on control electrolyte. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.