Solar energy has its share of critics and proponents and they will debate for hours on why and why not solar is a green energy. But there is no arguments that this is one source raining on the planet and it would be foolish to ignore it.
Perhaps a leaf could succeed where PVs have been struggling?
That is what the latest announcement from MIT indicates. They have developed an advanced solar cell the size of a poker card that mimics the process, called photosynthesis, that green plants use to convert sunlight and water into energy.
The team leader envisions "villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology."
About the shape of a poker card but thinner, the device is fashioned from silicon, electronics and catalysts, substances that accelerate chemical reactions that otherwise would not occur, or would run slowly. Placed in a single gallon of water in a bright sunlight, the device could produce enough electricity to supply a house in a developing country with electricity for a day.
It does so by splitting water into its two components, hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen and oxygen gases would be stored in a fuel cell, which uses those two materials to produce electricity, located either on top of the house or beside it.
The first artificial leaf was developed more than a decade ago by John Turner of the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. Although highly efficient at carrying out photosynthesis, Turner's device was impractical for wider use, as it was composed of rare, expensive metals and was highly unstable -- with a lifespan of barely one day. The new leaf overcomes these problems. It is made of inexpensive materials that are widely available, works under simple conditions and is highly stable.
So? a leaf or a PV cell?
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