When it comes to generating energy from sunlight, unusual solutions have been shown to make the process more efficient.
Now, a team of researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) has demonstrated how solar cells made of living organisms can generate energy even with limited sunlight. Known as “biogenic” solar cells, these cells could offer an alternative to synthetic cells currently used in conventional solar panels, providing an energy source despite bad weather.
A paper detailing the research was published in the journal Small.
“This is the first study demonstrating genetically engineered biogenic materials for solar cell fabrication. We utilized a harmless bacteria and re-engineered its internal machinery to produce a photoactive pigment called lycopene,” Sarvesh Kumar, a chemical and biological engineer at UBC and one of the paper’s lead authors, told Digital Trends.
In the past, researchers have developed biogenic solar cells by extracting natural dyes that bacteria use to generate energy in photosynthesis. This has proven to be an expensive process, though.
In a stroke of luck, the UBC scientists identified a potentially cheaper route while genetically engineering E. coli so that it would produce lots of lycopene, the dye that gives tomatoes their color, which has been shown to be an effective light harvester. Noticing that the lycopene was degrading (releasing electrons), they wondered whether the rate of this degradation was enough to generate a usable current. They coated the lycopene-producing bacteria with a mineral semiconductor, applied them to a glass surface where they could collect sunlight, and examined what happened.
When it comes to generating energy from sunlight, unusual solutions have been shown to make the process more efficient.
Now, a team of researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) has demonstrated how solar cells made of living organisms can generate energy even with limited sunlight. Known as “biogenic” solar cells, these cells could offer an alternative to synthetic cells currently used in conventional solar panels, providing an energy source despite bad weather.
A paper detailing the research was published in the journal Small.
“This is the first study demonstrating genetically engineered biogenic materials for solar cell fabrication. We utilized a harmless bacteria and re-engineered its internal machinery to produce a photoactive pigment called lycopene,” Sarvesh Kumar, a chemical and biological engineer at UBC and one of the paper’s lead authors, told Digital Trends.
In the past, researchers have developed biogenic solar cells by extracting natural dyes that bacteria use to generate energy in photosynthesis. This has proven to be an expensive process, though.
In a stroke of luck, the UBC scientists identified a potentially cheaper route while genetically engineering E. coli so that it would produce lots of lycopene, the dye that gives tomatoes their color, which has been shown to be an effective light harvester. Noticing that the lycopene was degrading (releasing electrons), they wondered whether the rate of this degradation was enough to generate a usable current. They coated the lycopene-producing bacteria with a mineral semiconductor, applied them to a glass surface where they could collect sunlight, and examined what happened.
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