Spatially partially incoherent and coherent dark photovoltaic solitons are comprehensively experimentally studied with phase masks in LiNbO₃∶Fe crystals. One-dimension and two-dimension dark photovoltaic solitons are observed with spatially partially incoherent and coherent beam,which result from the bulk photovoltaic effect and when diffraction is exactly balanced by photorefractive self-defocusing. The analysis of theory and experiments shows that dark photovoltaic solitons depend on the direction of propagation,orientation of the intensity gradient,with respect to the crystalline axes of the medium. Under certain conditions,the steady-state spatially partially incoherent dark photovoltaic solitons can be observed.