If you can't beat them, copy them

It is no secret that plants are very good at converting sunlight into energy. Ever since solar cells were invented, scientists have been struggling to achieve just a fraction of the efficiency of photosynthesis. One of the major problems has been that direct sunlight is inherently destructive. Solar panels have to be sturdy enough to last for long periods of time, which comes at the cost of efficiency in converting sunlight into electricity. One of the reasons that plants are so efficient is that they simply let their cells burn out and recycle them, sometimes as often as every 45 minutes. Scientists at MIT believe that they have managed to recreate this process with synthetic materials.

These synthetic chloroplasts are able to form themselves into crude solar cells under certain conditions. When they inevitably become damaged from exposure to the sun, they can be broken back down into their components by having a surfactant or solvent sprayed on them. Once the solvent is removed the components will once again assemble into functioning solar cells. Researchers say they they can currently get the cells to work at 40% efficiency, and they do not degrade over time as they can be automatically repaired.

These cells are still very far away from any practical use, but they show that the concept is feasible and has the potential to be much more efficient than current solar panels. Should we ever get something like this into production, it may actually be able to make fully-renewable energy production a reality. Current solar panels are great for powering a single structure, but are too bulky and inefficient for the large-scale power production that we require. These highly-efficient, regenerating cells could allow solar energy to become practical and competitive with other types of power, particularly fossil fuels.

Sources:

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-09/mits-self-assembling-pv-cells-recycle-themselves-repeatedly-just-plant-cells

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-09/miot-mrc090110.php