'Power Plants': How to Harvest Electricity Directly from Plants

Ramaraja Ramasamy, right, and Yogeswaran Umasankar work together to capture energy created during photosynthesis.

Plants are the undisputed champions of solar power. After billions of years of evolution, most of them operate at nearly 100 percent quantum efficiency, meaning that for every photon of sunlight a plant captures, it produces an equal number of electrons. Converting even a fraction of this into electricity would improve upon the efficiency seen with solar panels.

During photosynthesis, plants use sunlight to split water atoms into hydrogen and oxygen, which produces electrons. These newly freed electrons go on to help create sugars that plants use much like food to support growth and reproduction.

In small-scale experiments, this approach resulted in electrical current levels that are two orders of magnitude larger than those previously reported in similar systems. "In the near term, this technology might best be used for remote sensors or other portable electronic equipment that requires less power to run" 

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