The low cost DSSCs utilized by crude and pre-concentrated anthocyanins extracted from six
anthocyanin-rich samples including mangosteen pericarp, roselle, red cabbage, Thai berry, black rice and
blue pea were fabricated. Their photo-to-current conversion efficiencies and stability were examined.
Pre-concentrated extracts were obtained by solid phase extraction (SPE) using C18 cartridge. The results
obviously showed that all pre-concentrated extracts performed on photovoltaic performances in DSSCs
better than crude extracts except for mangosteen pericarp. The DSSC sensitized by pre-concentrated
anthocyanin from roselle and red cabbage showed maximum current efficiency h ¼ 0.71% while DSSC
sensitized by crude anthocyanin from mangosteen pericarp reached maximum efficiency h ¼ 0.97%. In
addition, pre-concentrated extract based cells possess more stability than those of crude extract based
cells. This indicates that pre-concentration of anthocyanin via SPE method is very effective for DSSCs
based on good photovoltaic performance and stability. The DFT/TDDFT calculations of electronic and
photoelectrochemical properties of the major anthocyanins found in the samples are employed to
support the experimental results.