Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I want to know how the different color of the dye sensitized solar cells affect the electrons (electricity) that they generate for the power. In this website (https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... background) there is an explanation related to this topic, but I have a question.
There is a solar table made up with dye sensitized solar cells (http://www.theguardian.com/business/201 ... t-sunlight) and it uses orange color to dye it and why are they using orange? Is it because orange absorbs sunlight well than other colors to generate power or what is it that they chose orange? Thank you very much!

hnyu1031,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for the good question. The science buddies project helps you explore the amount of energy a particular colour will obsorb and emit. As for your dye sensitised solar cells, these are not regular solar cells that have been dyed a colour. Rather, the dye is the photoactive material itself. The reason it is orange would depend on the chemical composition of the photo sensitive material. Ideally they would want a material that absorbed 100% of the light energy it receives and convert all of it to electrical energy, making the dye black, but this is impossible as there is always some loss. My guess is that the company developed a material that is a trade between energy absorption capacity, chemical composition, and manufacturing capability.