Bio-Panels
Traditional Solar Panels are Great, but...
They can be costly, deterring people away from
They use toxic and potentially harmful material materials to the environment
The manufacturing process is harmful to our environment
They are difficult to recycle
Idea of Bio-Panels
We propose to implement bio-based solar cells to reduce the use of expensive materials like silicon and titanium dioxide. We can use materials from species like Jellyfish or algae for example like Aequorea victoria, who contain the green fluorescent protein(GFP) in their cell that can be used to improve current solar panels. This is important because GFP acts as a dye of photosensitizer in the solar cell, absorbing photons and emitting electrons that can be used to produce electricity, similarly to how a regular dye-sensitized solar cell would work. Jellyfish and algae cells contain self-repairing properties that could reduce the maintenance cost and increase durability compared to traditional solar panels. GFP-based solar cells can also be integrated into self-contained "bioluminescent" fuel cells that generate electricity without an external light source, by using light-emitting enzymes like those found in fireflies or sea pansies. Another method would be to utilize algae materials to improve efficiency of solar cells. When exposed to sunlight, algae cells can split water molecules and produce electrons, protons, and oxygen as byproducts. These electrons generated by the algae can be captured and used to generate electricity. According to the startup’s research with Chalmers University of technology, a material made from silica shells of diatom algae–Algica, can increase the efficiency by up to 36% when mixed into the active layer
Affordability and Accessibility
Traditional solar panels require the use of other expensive materials to pair with the silicone. Bio-panels on the other hand do not require additional materials to function. Thus, the price of them would be significantly lower than the price of typical solar panels. This will allow them to be accessible to those with lower incomes and can not invest completely into traditional solar panels, which are typically only accessible to those with higher sources of income.
Environmental Benefits
Traditional solar panels require other materials that may be toxic or harmful to the environment. Some examples of toxic materials include hexavalent chromium coatings for older solar panels, arsenide, and cadmium. Bio-panels will not contain many of these toxic materials, and, thus, be more ecofriendly.