The intriguing properties of extremely efficient delocalization and migration of excitons in chlorophyll (Chl) J-type aggregates have inspired intense research activities toward their structural understanding, functional interpretation and mimicry synthesis. Herein, we demonstrated the J-aggregates of zinc methyl 3-devinyl-3-hydroxymethyl-pyropheophorbide a (ZnChl-1) generated by spin-coating method for the application as a hole transporter in titania-based solar cells using methyl trans-3(2)-carboxypyropheophorbide a (H(2)Chl-2) or its zinc complex (ZnChl-2) as the sensitizer. The effective carrier mobility of the J-aggregates films was determined by the organic field-effect transistor to be 6.2 x 10(-4) cm(2) V-1 s(-1). Solar cells sharing the architecture of FTO/H(2)Chl-2 or ZnChl-2 on TiO2/(ZnChl-1)(n)/Ag were fabricated and the factors that presumably determine their photovoltaic performances were discussed. The photovoltaic devices studied herein employing inexpensive and pollution-free biomaterials provide a unique solution of utilizing solar energy with a care of the important environmental issue. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.