In February 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced that research scientist Andreas Mershin with his team at MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, Barry D. Bruce, professor of biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Switzerland collaborated on perfecting a process of functional photosynthesis molecule extraction from yard waste to be blended with chemicals and painted on roofs producing electricity. These are the same molecules (called photosystem-I or PS-I) that convert sunlight into electricity in the first photosynthesis step in the forest. Biophotovoltaics is the new buzz word and the next step is to boost the current low 0.1% efficiency rate to at least 1 to 2% levels (commercial solar panels convert about 10 to 15 percent of solar energy into power and labs are trying to get that rate even higher).
A simplification of how it works--tiny zinc oxide tubes attract PS-I particles to their surface which when hit with sunlit cause the particles to produce electrons that create electric currant in the zinc oxide semiconductor. Blue-green algae was used in the study but grass clippings could work instead. Ultimately it will look like a bag of dry chemicals that will be added to the waste to break it down and either chips will be dipped in the resulting mixture or it will be painted on metal roofs or glass to become working solar cells. Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are used to protect the extract and its surfactant peptides mixture from UV light damage.
This will not be for sale at any local Greenville building supply place just yet but the process is simple enough to be duplicated. Write greenerbuilt1@gmail.com about any attempts at duplicating this solar cell after reading the MIT method. One application of the technology is for people in remote or developing areas who could cheaply and with few materials generate their own electricity.
Professor Bruce stated that “As opposed to conventional photovoltaic solar powered systems, we are using renewable biological materials rather than toxic chemicals to generate energy. Likewise, our system will require less time, land, water and input of fossil fuels to produce energy than most biofuels.” Relief from the current cost of photovoltaic cell systems is anticipated as well as further emergence away from fossil fuels.
See the attached photo for what the solar cell looks like. If you are a scientist, read the findings spelled out in the detailed paper published Feb 2, 2012 “Self-assembled photosystem-I biophotovoltaics on nanostructured TiO2 and ZnO” in Nature: Scientific Reports
but quicker and easier to understand is the attached video “Harnessing Nature’s Solar Cells” where Mershin explains the approach.
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