TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ELECTRONICS - Preferred Composition: In the gel electrolyte composition, a content of the optionally substituted pyridine is about 0.3 M to 1.2 M (mole/liter), a content of the metal salt MY' is about 0.05 M to 0.2 M (mole/liter), a content of the halogen molecule is about 0.03 M to 1.0 M (mole/liter), and a content of the optionally substituted nicotinic acid is about 0.3 M to 1.0 M (mole/liter). The gel electrolyte composition further comprises guanidinium thiocyanate (GuSCN). Preferred Components: The counter electrode comprises a transparent conductive substrate plated with platinum. The working electrode comprises: a transparent conductive substrate; and a metal oxide thin film formed on a surface of the transparent conductive substrate, where the metal oxide thin film comprises a dye.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: When the metal salt MY' is a metal iodide salt, the halogen molecule is molecular iodine, or when the metal salt is a bromide salt, the halogen molecule is molecular iodine. The dye comprises a metal complex containing a metal selected from ruthenium, osmium, iron, illinium, platinum and zinc. The dye comprises a non-metal organic compound. The metal oxide thin film comprises TiO2, ZnO, Al2O3, SiO2 or TixAlyOz. The transparent conductive substrate comprises glass, plastic or metal.x and y=1-3;z=1-6. EXAMPLE - A dye solution was prepared as follows: alcohol and N-719 dye (Ruthenium 535) (RTM: (cis-bis(isothiocyanato)bis(2,2'-bipyridyl-4,4'-dicarboxylato)-ruthenium(II)) was used to form an alcohol solution of (cis-bis(isothiocyanato)bis(2,2'-bipyridyl-4,4'-dicarboxylato)-ruthenium(II) dye with a concentration of 3x 10-4 M. A working electrode was prepared as follows: a nitrogen gas gun was used to purge the base plate surface. A fluorine tin oxide (FTO) conductive glass base plate was placed in a beaker containing acetone and ultrasonically cleaned for 20 minutes using an ultrasonic cleaner to remove residual fragments and various contaminants on it. The base plate was then placed in a beaker containing isopropyl alcohol (IPS), followed by ultrasonic cleaning for 20 minutes with an ultrasonic cleaner to remove the acetone or other possible oil residues. Then, the base plate was placed in a beaker containing de-ionized water, followed by ultrasonic cleaning for 20 minutes using an ultrasonic cleaner. The base plate was then blow-dried with a nitrogen gas gun. The base plate was further placed and dried in an oven at 110 degrees C for about 10 minutes to remove the excess moisture. A titania paste was then placed on the cleaned FTO conductive glass base plate and was scraped with a knife to a uniform film. After being dried in the shade, the conductive glass base plate with the thin film of titania paste was sintered in an oven at about 450 degrees C. An electrode thin film with a thickness of about 8 micron ( mu m) was thereby formed to complete the fabrication of a working electrode. The working electrode was placed on a hot plate and was heated to 80 degrees C. After moisture was removed, the process of dye adsorption was performed. The duration of the dye adsorption process was about 24 hours. During the adsorption process, the dye was prevented from being irradiated by light to circumvent the decomposition of the dye molecules due to a catalytic effect, which would then decrease the efficiency. A counter electrode was prepared as follows: the cleaned ITO glass base plate was placed on a holder of a DC sputtering machine, where the power was adjusted to 175 watts, the flow rate of argon gas was maintained at about 10 sccm and the sputtering pressure was set at about 1 mtorr. The sputtering process was conducted for about 10 seconds to form a platinum counter electrode of a thickness of about 30 nanometer (nm). The electrolyte was the medium for charge transmission and mainly relied on the oxidation/reduction pair, such as triiodide ion/iodide ion (I3-/I-) for transmitting electrons. The solvent used was acetonitrile (AN). 0.5 M of 4-tert-Butylpyridine (TBP) was used as a surfactant. The source of (I3-/I-) was 0.6 M of 1-butyl-3-carboxylpyridinium iodide and 0.03M of molecular iodine (I2). Then, 0.1 M of guanidinium thiocyanate (GuSCN(C2H6N4S or CH5N3.HSCN) was added to increase the photovoltage. Subsequently, 0.1 M of LiI was added. After gelling, an electrolyte formulation was obtained. A dye-sensitized solar cell comprising the electrolyte was prepared. A control solar cell was prepared in a similar manner but by replacing the electrolyte formulation by Solaronix Iodolyte AN-50 (RTM: standard electrolyte formulation). The test/control solar cell showed open circuit voltage (V-oc) of 0.59/0.80, short circuit current density (J-sc, mA/cm2) of 9.39/6.77, filling factor (FF) of 0.67/0.74 and photoelectric conversion efficiency ( eta ) of 3.69/3.96.