Solar Cells Made From Bioluminescent Jellyfish

An anonymous reader writes "Swedish researchers have devised a way to turn bioluminescent jellyfish into solar cells. It works like this: the green fluorescent protein (GFP) that makes the Aequorea victoria glow is simply dripped onto a silicon dioxide substrate between two electrodes. The protein works itself into strands between the electrodes. When ultraviolet light is shined on the circuit, voila, the GFP absorbs photons and emits electrons, generating a current. The GFP-powered cells work like dye-sensitized solar cells, but don't require expensive materials such as titanium dioxide."

Comments

Could be worse

[MichaelSmith]

Jellyfish could be using Human Beings to generate power.

The Fools!

[CompSci101]

Haven't they played any of the Metroid games? We're all doomed!

C

output?

[Taibhsear]

What's the output on these new cells? The article mentioned the efficiency of algae cells but not these bioluminescent cells.

Re:output?

[StevenMaurer]

If you'd RTFA, you would have seen this snippet:

The team has so far used a proof-of-concept device to power a clock. The sunlight-to-electricity efficiency of the device is only 0.1 per cent at present, compared with between 10 and 15 per cent for existing dye-sensitised solar cells, however. Screening different algae species to find the most productive electron donor might be one way to produce more juice.

Eventually, algal cells could float out at sea, generating electricity from sunlight and seawater. "We might end up with less efficiency than [conventional] photovoltaics, but we think we can win on cost, and we don't require space where people want to live," says Bombelli.

Of course, making electricity at sea isn't so nearly hard to do as it is to get the electricity to a place where it can be used.

Expensive materials, whaa?

[smellsofbikes]

Titanium dioxide is dirt cheap, like $2 USD/kilogram cheap. Now, this might use some higher-purity version, but if they're using a "silicon dioxide substrate" they're already spending as much on reasonable SiO2 and its processing than the TiO2 is going to cost.

I think it's cool research -- self-assembling stuff rocks -- but I'm dubious about their claim of the effectiveness of that particular cost reduction.

titanium dioxide, really?

[Goldsmith]

Why would you say this? Maybe you meant indium tin oxide, which is expensive... but no, you use that one, but don't mention that in the press release.

It's not likely that someone working with this protein, who has to purchase or make it for several thousand dollars per milligram makes this claim innocently (titanium dioxide is a few cents per gram, and GFP is already one of the most mass produced purified proteins out there, it's not going to get much cheaper anytime soon). Misleading blurbs like this are terrible for science; they propagate falsehoods and direct research funding away from promising sources.

Re:titanium dioxide, really?

[John Hasler]

They are referring to expensive nanostructured titanium dioxide used in some solar cell technologies. The reporter, of course, is oblivious to the difference between that and the pigment in white housepaint.

Please advise

[Itninja]

I have not yet received my opinion assignment document from those we don't speak of, so I am not really sure what I am supposed to think about this. On one tentacle, anything helping to make photovoltaic material affordable is very good. But the other tentacle, harvesting (and likely destroying) scores of jellyfish to do so seems, well, creepy. I think I will need to wait until cable news tells me what to think.

Wrong Section!

[Acetylane_Rain]

Hey, editor! This is in the wrong section.

Jellyfish, strictly speaking, are software. (Unless you reinforce them with an exoskeleton.)

To Paraphrase Kermit the Frog...

[florescent_beige]

It's not easy being bioluminescent.

Like it wasn't bad enough these poor creatures spend their entire existence as lowly bags of goo. Now they have to spend half their time fleeing from horrific vertebrates that want to squeeze the life-goo right out of them for no discernible reason. Well, not actually fleeing. Trying to flee. Have you ever seen a jellyfish flee? It's sad. Pathetic really. Very slow. You can't even call it fleeing. It's more like moseying. "The jellyfish are moseying for their lives!" See what I mean? Poor things.

But are they any good at all

[fnj]

What is the efficiency of these particular organic solar cells under ordinary solar radiation? What is their lifetime before the organic matter decays?