The next solar panels could contain the bacterium Escherichia coli

A group of researchers from the University of British Columbia, Canada, found a very particular method for improve the efficiency of solar panels in places (like their province) where it is common to be cloudy, reducing the ability of the panels convert sunlight into electricity.

They use biogenic solar cells (so-called because they are made of living organisms), but unlike anterial designs, they extract the natural components that bacteria use for photosynthesis (and convert, So they took a version of the Escherichia coli bacteria (E.coli) to which they modified the genes to produce lycopene, the compound that gives it the red color to the vegetable.Lycopene is very effective at converting the light of the sun in energy.And what they did next, it was to cover the bacteria with a mineral that acts as a semiconductor, and then they applied the mixture to a glbad substrate.

In the tests, they could generate almost twice as much energy as a conventional biogenic solar panel – even with cloudy skies. "These hybrid materials we develop can be made of economical and sustainable way, "said Vikramaditya Yadav, one of the project leaders. "With enough optimization, it could have an efficiency comparable to that of a conventional solar panel." What is missing, however, is finding a process that ensures the survival of the bacteria indefinitely.