Bacteria-powered energy solar panels… bacteria couldn’t be that bad after all.
Clean energy can now be generated from bacteria! For the first time ever, researchers connected nine biological solar cells, also known as bio-solar cells into a bio-solar panel. They then produced electricity from the panel and were able to generate 5.50 microwatts. This amount of energy is greater than any existing small-scale bio-solar cells.
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This research uses cyanobacteria, a kind of bacteria that can easily be found in every terrestrial and aquatic habitat on the planet. This bacteria can be used as a source of clean and sustainable energy.
Bacteria-powered energy solar panels (Source: Science Daily)
The researchers interconnected nine identical bio-solar cells in a 3×3 pattern to make a scalable as well as stackable bio-solar panel. This panel continuously generated electricity from photosynthesis and respiratory activities of the bacteria in 12-hour day and night cycles in 60 total hours.
Bacteria-powered energy solar panels (Source: TomoNews US)
However, a traditional 60-cell solar panel on a roof of a residential house can generate 200 watts of electrical power. The cells from this study can only generate around 0.00003726 watts. So as of now it isn’t that efficient yet. But this breakthrough can open doors to future research and improvements that can lead to success in this kind of energy generation.
