Using Plants, Scientists Find Better Way to Make Electricity from Sun

Solar panels generally are only about 10% to 20% effective at converting the sun’s rays into electricity, but new research at the University of Georgia in the USA promises to roughly double that conversion ratio.

How? By altering the process, known as photosynthesis, by which plants convert sunlight into sugars. Before sunlight becomes sugars, plants convert that sunlight into electrons. Georgia scientists reportedly have figured out how to capture those electrons and shape them into an electrical current.

The bigger picture here is that scientists are rapidly figuring out how to get the most out of sunlight, and that is making solar power more and more competitive with electricity generated from fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas.

To learn more about the Georgia project here.

Believe it or not, Clams are a ‘Living’ Source of Electricity

Photo: Journal of Energy & Environmental Science/Clarkson University/Ben- Gurion University of the Negev

The next time you turn on the light in your bedroom, think about this: one day the electricity required to turn on that light may be supplied by clams.

Clams have blood sugar which can be used as an energy source. Scientists recently demonstrated clams’ natural ability to generate electricity. The scientists “harvested” the clams’ blood sugar, creating a “living battery.” They gave the clams time to pump back up their blood sugar levels, making the system self-sustaining.

Imagine a day when, instead of digging up the earth for its coal and natural gas, people got all the electricity they needed by harvesting the blood sugar from clams and other suitable creatures.

That day, if it ever comes, is probably a long way off. But it’s worth thinking about the next time you turn on your bedroom light.

To learn more, check out this Mother Nature Netwrk article.

Soon Even the Walls of a Building Will Be Use to Used to Make Solar Power

Everybody knows that when you put solar panels on the roof of a house, you can make solar electric power.

But why settled for just a roof when you can have the walls do it, too?

Scientists at Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. reportedly have created a new kind of material that, when applied to the exterior walls of a building, transforms those walls into solar collectors that can generate electricity the way a rooftop solar panel does.

This new material reportedly is made from organic semiconductors rather than the silicon semiconductors most used today. They’re only about two thirds as effective at converting sunlight into electricity – for now, anyway.

Mitsubishi reportedly plans to start selling its wall-coating material next year.

To find out more, read The Daily Yomiuri article.