TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ELECTRICAL POWER AND ENERGY - Preferred Cell: The semiconductor electrode comprises a glass substrate, a ITO or FTO transparent conductive layer and platinum layer or electrospun ultra-fine fibrous titanium dioxide layer (having thickness of 5 - 20 or 50 - 1000 micrometers) onto which dye molecules are adsorbed. The electrolyte is liquid electrolyte containing iodine. The liquid electrolyte comprises 0.1M lithium iodide, 0.05M iodine, 0.5M 1,2-dimethyl-3-propyl-imidazole iodide and 0.5M tert-butyl pyridine dissolved in acetonitrile.Preferred Process: The pre-treatment involves the treating the substrate with vapor of acetone or dimethyl formamide for 1-3 hours in a closed container and/or immersing the substrate in acetone or dimethyl formamide solvent for 1 hour.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Components: The electrolyte is a polymer gel electrolyte containing at least one polymer (5 - 20 wt.% of the solvent mixture propylene carbonate and ethylene carbonate) selected from poly(vinylidene fluoride)-co-poly(hexafluoropropylene), poly(acrylonitrile), poly-(ethylene oxide) and poly(alkylacrylate). The polymer solution comprises polymer (5-20 wt.%) selected from polyvinylacetate, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyvinylalcohol and polyethylene oxide dissolved in dimethyl formamide, acetone, tetrahydrofuran and/or toluene. EXAMPLE - Dye molecules were adsorbed on the ultra-fine titanium dioxide fibers on the transparent conductive glass substrate impregnated in 3x10 to the power of -4M solution of RuL2(NCS)2 (Where L is 2,2'-bipyridyl-4,4'-dicarboxyl acid) for 12 hours. The substrate was washed several times with ethanol and dried to give a semiconductor electrode. A platinum layer was coated on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)-coated transparent conductive glass substrate to obtain a counter electrode. A spacer having thickness of about 20 micron was located between the semiconductor electrode and the counter electrode fabricated at 120 degrees C to attach the above two electrodes. Iodine-based liquid electrolyte comprising iodine (0.25 g), lithium iodide (0.26 g), 1,2-dimethyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide (3.70 g) and tert-butyl pyridine (1.34 g) dissolved in acetonitrile (20 ml) was then filled in the space between the above two electrodes and the resultant was sealed to obtain the dye-sensitized solar cell.