Spinach May Soon Power Mobile Devices

neutron_p writes "For the first time, MIT researchers have incorporated a plant's ability to convert sunlight to energy into a solid-state electronic "spinach sandwich" device that may one day power laptops and cell phones."

Comments

Dupe... *sigh*

[grm_wnr]

You know, that sounds mighty familiar...

More on this...

[Chuck Bucket]

I read about spinach power a few months back, took me a few minutes to believe it wasn't a hoax, but it isn't. Basically plant proteins are the original solar cells but haven't been usefully harnessed for electrical power generation. Now e're getting close:

• US researchers have made electrical cells that are powered by plant proteins.
  
  The biologically based solar cells, which convert light into electrical energy, should be efficient and cheap to manufacture, says co-creator Marc Baldo of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
  
  Baldo's team isolated a variety of photosynthetic proteins from spinach and sandwiched them between two layers of conducting material. When light was shone on to the tiny cell, an electrical current was generated...
  
  The prototype cells still need a little refinement. At present, they can generate current for up to 21 days; then they give up. So alternatives that last longer are needed.
  
  The cells also convert only about 12% of the absorbed light energy into electricity. Still, the researchers believe that it should be possible to reach 20% efficiency, which is better than typical values for commercial silicon solar cells.

Full here
It may be that more efficient and more durable chloroplasts can be found or made. The evolution of solar power seems to be going in several directions at once. It makes me wonder what experiments are in progress and not reported yet?

CB(*&^%^*)&^

Another article

[Xeo 024]

The article in the summary seems to have been /.ed so here is another article I found.

TFA Link

[hackronym0]

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2004/spinach-0915.ht ml

This is a link to a relevant article on the mit servers (the other ones are toasted)

Spinach is interesting stuff...

[ultramk]

I used to work in the ag-packaging industry.

Boxes for spinach are very distinctive, because they have a TON of holes in them to allow cooling systems to be more efficient when they're stacked on a pallet in a refrigerated truck etc.
(most boxes for leafy greens-lettuce, etc. have a few holes but nothing like on the scale of spinach boxes)
When I asked about this, I was told that the spinach is so biologically active--even after being picked--that it generated enough heat inside the boxes to require extra cooling--otherwise the shelf life would plummet.

Hint: keep your greens at EXACTLY 34F / 1C (no lower than that, and not much more than a couple of degrees higher). They'll last far, far longer in your refrigerator!

So, I guess that's why they picked spinach for this project. That dark, dark green is there for a reason.

m-

Sunlight into energy?

[jimbo3123]

"MIT researchers have incorporated a plant's ability to convert sunlight to energy"

And what is sunlight made of??
Light is not converted to energy. This sentence is ridiculous. The sunlight already is a form of energy that is converted to electrical energy through a new process.

Asinine statements like this really irk me (especially when they come from supposedly technical sources like /.)

Re:A better use

[Paulrothrock]

If you don't like spinach you're not doing it right.

Don't get the frozen stuff. The bagged spinach works best. Put olive oil and garlic in a pan over medium-high heat and let it get warm. Add spinach and toss to coat for about a minute. It's one of the best non-meat foods I can think of.