Pyrene appended Schiff base, 1,3-bis-((E)-pyrene-1-ylmethyleneamino)propan-2-ol (HL), a fluorophore, shows aggregation induced emission enhancement upon addition of water in DMF (4:1, v/v) solution; the quantum yield (Φ) is increased by 0.034-0.450. Under illumination of solar radiation HL (10-3 M) impregnated photovoltaic cell generates 4.4 mA/6.29 V electricity. DFT and TD-DFT computation of optimized geometry of HL has explained the photophysical properties. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.