Techno-Economic Assessment of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells for Potential Agrivoltaic Applications Integrated with Direct Air Capture

The rapid expansion of solar photovoltaics has intensified land-use competition between renewable energy and agriculture, particularly in regions where food security and clean-energy transitions must progress together. Semi-transparent photovoltaic technologies may provide a land-use-compatible pathway for potential agrivoltaic applications by allowing partial light transmission while generating electricity. This study evaluates Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) as a semi-transparent photovoltaic option and investigates the use of DSSC-generated electricity to power Direct Air Capture (DAC). The scope is limited to photovoltaic-system performance and economics and does not include Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) transmission, crop growth, crop yield, or microclimate analysis. A techno-economic assessment was performed using the System Advisor Model for two contrasting regions, Karachi, Pakistan, and Davis, USA. DSSC and monocrystalline silicon systems were compared over the same land area. Due to their lower installed capacity, the DSSC systems generated less annual electricity. However, their lower assumed capital expenditure resulted in a Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) that was 10% lower in Davis, at US Dollars (USD) 0.29/kWh, and 0.7% lower in Karachi, at USD 0.25/kWh. Based on literature-reported DAC energy requirements, the DSSC systems could support annual Carbon Dioxide (CO2) removal of 331–9707 tonnes in Karachi and 334–9783 tonnes in Davis, depending on the selected DAC pathway. These results indicate that semi-transparent DSSCs may provide a lower-capital, land-use-compatible photovoltaic pathway combined with renewable-electricity-driven carbon removal. Their suitability for practical agrivoltaic deployment requires future PAR-transmission measurements and crop-specific experimental validation.