Bipyridylporphyrin derivatives possessing a porphyrin moiety as the electron donor and bipyridyl moiety as the electron–acceptor were designed and synthesized for dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs). The photophysical and electrochemical properties were investigated by absorption spectrometry and cyclic voltammetry. Density functional theory(DFT) was employed to study electron distribution. From the photovoltaic performance measurements, a maximum conversion efficiency(η) of 0.38% was achieved based on the bipyridylporphyrin ruthenium dye A7(J_(SC)= 1.33 mA/cm~2, V_(OC)= 0.45 V, FF = 0.64) under 1.5 irradiation(100 mW/cm~2). Bipyridylporphyrin derivatives possessing a porphyrin moiety as the electron donor and bipyridyl moiety as the electron-acceptor were designed and synthesized for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The photophysical and electrochemical properties were investigated by absorption spectrometry and cyclic voltammetry. Density functional theory ( DFT) was employed to study electron distribution. From the photovoltaic performance measurements, a maximum conversion efficiency (η) of 0.38% was achieved based on the bipyridylporphyrin ruthenium dye A7 (J SC = 1.33 mA / cm 2, V OC ) = 0.45 V, FF = 0.64) under 1.5 irradiation (100 mW / cm ~ 2).