The influence of solvents on the property of poly (acrylic acid)-oligo-(ethylene glycol) polymer gel electrolyte and photovoltaic performance of quasi-solid- state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were investigated. Solvents or mixed solvents with large donor number enhance the liquid electrolyte absorbency, which further influences the ionic conductivity of polymer gel electrolyte. A polymer gel electrolyte with ionic conductivity of 4.45 mS cm(-1) was obtained by using poly (acrylic acid)-oligo-(ethylene glycol) as polymer matrix, and absorbing 30 vol.% N-methyl pyrrolidone and 70 vol.% gamma-butyrolactone with 0.5 M Nal and 0.05 M I-2. By using this polymer gel electrolyte coupling with 0.4 M pyridine additive, a quasi-solid- state dye-sensitized solar cell with conversion efficiency of 4.74% was obtained under irradiation of 100 mW cm(-2) (AM 1.5). (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All riahts reserved.