The photogalvanic effect of photosensitizer - reductant pair, Toluidine Blue-Arabinose and Malachite Green-Arabinose have been studied in presence of anionic surfactant NaLS (sodium lauryl sulphate) and a tentative mechanism has been proposed for the cell reaction. The photopotential (Delta V) and photocurrent (i(sc)) were obtained 813.0 mV and 60.0 mu A in Toluidine Blue system and 348.0 mV and 36.0 mu A in Malachite Green system. The conversion efficiency and storage capacity of the developed cells were found to be 0.1448% and 123.0 min, respectively with Toluidine Blue system and 0.0590% and 32.0 min, respectively with Malachite Green system. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.