Study and Construction of Grätzel Type Solar Cells with Natural Pigments Extracted in Ecuador

General objective The project proposal is to build Grätzel-type solar cells using natural pigments extracted from plants that grow in Ecuador that have good potential for this type of cell and to carry out a comparative study in terms of components and performance with the standard one that is assembled based on synthetic pigments and establish the bases to adapt this new technology to the conditions of our environment. Justification The current technical problem basically boils down to the following: materials that can transform light into a stream of electrons in an efficient and stable way only absorb light in a very small range of the spectrum and therefore waste the potential of sunlight, giving rise to at low efficiencies. However, it has been observed that if the light, instead of being absorbed directly by the material, is first absorbed by a pigment, a system is generated that can relatively efficiently convert the sunlight ultimately into an electrical current. So if the right pigments are found and the pigment interaction with the electrode material (eg titanium oxide) is maximized we can lower costs and increase the efficiency of the devices and make the use of solar energy as a more viable option. non-polluting and low-cost source.