Abstract
As the global community needs sustainable alternatives to silicon-based photovoltaics, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been regarded as a third-generation technology due to their low-cost fabrication and tunable aesthetics. However, the efficiency of single-sensitizer systems, including high-cost ruthenium complexes and low-stability natural pigments, remains constrained by narrow absorption spectra and rapid charge recombination. The transition from single to hybrid dye systems highlights the technical and economic necessity of multi-chromophore and metal-doped architectures. By integrating previous results on silver doping and cocktail sensitization, hybrid dye systems achieve panchromatic absorption and a significant reduction in the semiconductor bandgap by up to 3.0 eV. The results of this review provide a reference for the development of next-generation sensitizers that offer industrial-grade stability and a lower levelized cost of electricity, facilitating the integration of DSSCs into building-integrated photovoltaics and portable electronics.