Salma Kaotar Hnawi Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Energy and Environment (LNEE); Molecular Chemistry Laboratory, Coordination Chemistry and Catalysis Unit, Cadi Ayyad University, Faculty of sciences Semlalia (UCA-FSSM), B.P. 2390-40000 Marrakech, Morocco e-mail: hnawi.salma@gmail.com Abdallah Nayad Molecular Chemistry Laboratory, Coordination Chemistry and Catalysis Unit, Cadi Ayyad University, Faculty of sciences Semlalia (UCA-FSSM), B.P. 2390-40000 Marrakech, Morocco e-mail: abdallahnayad@gmail.com Hoda Aitdads Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Energy and Environment (LNEE), Cadi Ayyad University, Faculty of sciences Semlalia (UCA-FSSM), B.P. 2390-40000 Marrakech, Morocco e-mail: h.aitdads@gmail.com Abdelali Agdad Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Energy and Environment (LNEE), Cadi Ayyad University, Faculty of sciences Semlalia (UCA-FSSM), B.P. 2390-40000 Marrakech, Morocco e-mail: abd.agdad@gmail.com Mohamed Afqir Laboratoire des Sciences des Maté riaux Inorganiques et Leurs Applications, Faculte ́ des Sciences Semlalia (UCA-FSSM), B.P. 2390-40000 Marrakech, Maroc e-mail: mohamed.afqir@yahoo.fr Lahcen Nkhaili Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Energy and Environment (LNEE), Cadi Ayyad University, Faculty of sciences Semlalia (UCA-FSSM), B.P. 2390-40000 Marrakech, Morocco e-mail: lahcen.com@hotmail.fr Larbi El Firdoussi Molecular Chemistry Laboratory, Coordination Chemistry and Catalysis Unit, Cadi Ayyad University, Faculty of sciences Semlalia (UCA-FSSM), B.P. 2390-40000 Marrakech, Morocco e-mail: elfirdoussi@uca.ac.ma Investigation of the Structural, Optical, Electrical, and Dielectrical Properties of Aloe Vera Leaf Exudate Organic solar cells are considered to be the promising solar technology for the coming year because of their ease of manufacture. In the present study, the Aloe Latex as a yellow orange Solid (ALS) collected from the leaves of Aloe Vera plant (aloe barbadensis miller) was used as a natural and cheap sensitizer thin film. The ALS powder was analyzed using X-ray dif- fraction,UHPLC-MS, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to determine the chemical composition and the structural properties. While the impedance spectroscopy was performed for the dielectrical properties. The optical properties were detemined using UV–Vis absorption of the ALS thin film deposited in a glass. For the first trial, a planar het- erojunction solar cell using zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film as an electron selective layer was build. The band gap was found to be 1.88 eV. The electrical properties of the investigated cell by the current–voltage (I–V) measurements showed an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.74 V, an important efficiency of 0.50%, and a great fill factor (FF) of 0.70. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4048086] Keywords: natural dye, solar cell, aloe vera latex, planar heterojunction, current–voltage (I–V), capacitance–voltage (C–V), chemistry, clean energy, environment, photovoltaics, renewable 1 Corresponding author. Contributed by the Solar Energy Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF SOLAR ENERGY ENGINEERING:INCLUDING WIND ENERGY AND BUILDING ENERGY CONSERVATION. Manuscript received May 8, 2020; final manuscript received August 8, 2020; published online September 1, 2020. Assoc. Editor: Prathap Ramamurthy. Journal of Solar Energy Engineering APRIL 2021, Vol. 143 / 021006-1 Copyright © 2020 by ASME Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/solarenergyengineering/article-pdf/143/2/021006/6562544/sol_143_2_021006.pdf by guest on 10 March 2021