Artificial Photosynthesis Solar Panels

Create a semiconductor that can support a lot of high energy charged carriers for both of the applications that professor mi is trying to do here.

Artificial photosynthesis solar panels.

Today we ll talk to an engineering professor who s working on artificial photosynthesis that s up to 100 times more efficient than plants. While solar panels are straining at the theoretical limits of their efficiency seeking to break free there s still a place for artificial photosynthesis which was for a long time a forgotten cousin. The three key components for solar energy conversion in artificial photosynthesis are light harvesting charge separation and catalysis mcconnell li brudvig 2010. And so artificial photosynthesis really is a storage mechanism that s what the plants do with photosynthesis it s a storage mechanism.

This kind of research could lead to clean solar fuels that replace fossil fuels. For one thing it has benefits over photovoltaic cells found in today s solar panels. The purpose of artificial photosynthesis is to produce a fuel from sunlight that can be stored conveniently and used when sunlight is not available by using direct processes that is to produce a solar fuel. So they re very paralleled the artificial photosynthesis versus photosynthesis.

Hence artificial leaves were constructed by adding catalysts co oec and nimozn to a light harvesting silicon based semiconductor to split water. According to nocera 2012 a light dependent reaction is required to mimic photosynthesis. The direct conversion of sunlight to electricity in photovoltaic cells makes solar power a weather and time dependent energy which decreases its utility and increases its price. Morris s lab is trying to imitate the photosynthesis process to produce a fuel that could replace fossil fuels.

Artificial photosynthesis could offer a new possibly ideal way out of our energy predicament. It seems likely that people will continue to want liquid and solid fuels that can be burned whereas solar panels can only provide us with electricity. Photosynthesis or the way plants turn carbon dioxide into oxygen is crucial for life on earth but it s not a very efficient process. And once they do that they can turn the charge carrier into uv photons for water purification or use the energy for artificial photosynthesis and chemical processing in a solar refinery.

Scientists at a uc berkeley lab taught bacteria how to cover. Modern solar pv systems can achieve three times higher efficiency.