Energy Sources Part A-recovery Utilization and Environmental Effects, Vol.33, No.22, 2058-2066, 2011
A Study of the Performance of the Photogalvanic Cells for Solar Energy Conversion and Storage: Methyl Orange-D-Xylose-NaLS System
The most promising photochemical approach to achieve a better performance of a photo galvanic cell was studied in a photo galvanic system containing Methyl Orange as the photosensitizer, D-Xylose as the reductant, and Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (NaLS) as the surfactant for increasing the solar energy conversion efficiency and storage capacity. The observed values of the photo generation of photopotential and photocurrent were 890.0 mV and 480.0 mu A, respectively. The maximum power of the cell was 427.20 mu W, whereas the observed power at the power point was 168.95 mu W. The conversion efficiency was 1.6245% and the fill factor 0.3214 was experimentally determined at the power point of the photo galvanic cell. The rate of initial generation of the photocurrent was 69.44 mu A min(-1), whereas the photo galvanic cell so developed can work for 160.0 min in the dark if it is irradiated for 165 min only.