Man may have discovered the way to artificially harness the sun’s energy, but nature has been doing it since the dawn of time. And we’re not just talking about plants. It turns out deep sea bacteria convert the tiniest amounts of sunlight into energy.
These Green Sulfur bacteria colonies live more than a mile beneath the surface of the ocean, where sunlight rarely penetrates the dark depths.
As a result, they have evolved to convert 100 percent of the stray sunlight that comes their way into electricity. It’s a revolutionary breakthrough for the scientists at the University of Cambridge, as they believe the bacteria’s light-harvesting proteins may hold the key to increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic cells. These bacteria currently turn only 15 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity, as the rest is lost to reflection and heat.
This discovery has scientists taking a closer look at the bacterium’s unique abilities, which don’t fall into the traditional categories of biology or quantum physics. Instead, they say it’s actually more akin to quantum biology.
Dr. Alex Chin, from Cambridge University’s Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability, explains the implications of this discovery. ’Our research suggests these natural PPCs can achieve ‘hot and fast’ energy transfer – energy flows that prevent complete cooling to the temperature of their surroundings, which has been proposed as a way of improving solar cell efficiency beyond limits currently imposed by thermodynamics.’
Thanks to this amazing new discovery, there are even more options for maximizing our use of the sun’s energy. Even so, it’s important to remember scientists are in the beginning stages of understanding exactly how to use the Green Sulfur bacteria’s amazing energy-generation process. Tangible, commercial results of these studies are still a ways out. But one thing is clear: The future of solar power has never looked brighter.