A gel polymer electrolyte is prepared by soaking a porous membrane in an organic electrolyte solution containing the I-3(-)/I- redox couple. The ionic conductivity of the gel polymer electrolyte is 2.7 x 10(-3) S cm(-1) at room temperature, and encapsulates the electrolyte solution well without solvent leakage. A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) employing the gel polymer electrolyte gives an open-circuit voltage of 0.72 V and a short-circuit current of 6.27 mA cm(-2) at an incident light intensity of 100 mW cm(-2). This yields a conversion efficiency of 2.4%. The DSSC employing the gel polymer electrolyte shows a more stable photovoltaic performance than a DSSC assembled with liquid electrolyte. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.