Tobacco plant becomes solar panel!

Although its practical use won't be for the near future, it's still an interesting concept - exploiting a plants photosynthesis to gain energy: there's logic in the idea. One of the rare moments I see a positive evolution linked with genetic engineering.
A revival of my beloved tobacco plant ..

Read the article

• Synthetic solar cells can be grown in tobacco plants and E. coli bacteria.
  
• The method offers a cheap, environmentally friendly way to make electricity.
  
• Tapping the plants exploits an already efficient system, honed by millions of years of evolution.
  

Tobacco plants could help wean the world from fossil fuels, according to scientists from the University of California, Berkeley. In a paper in the journal ACS Nano Letters, Matt Francis and his colleagues used tobacco plants, infected with a genetically engineered virus, to produce artificial photovoltaic and photochemical cells. The technique is more environmentally friendly than traditional methods of making solar cells and could lead to cheap, temporary and biodegradable solar cells.

Just what can't tobacco do ?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f687da8f3147.jpg[/atsimg]


How would they collect the electricity off a seasonal plant ?
This seems to be a bit off a pipe dream that will just go up in smoke. Like many ideas, there is proof of concept but no practicality.



Edit for image.......

[edit on 26/1/2010 by anxietydisorder]

reply to post by anxietydisorder


apparently it's not the living plant producing the electricity, it's harvesting solar cells from the chopped up plants, so the fact its a seasonal plant doesn't really matter:

Trapped inside the plant, the tiny structures don't produce electricity or chemicals. To get at the synthetic chromophores, scientists harvest the plants, chop them up, and extract the structures. Dissolved in a liquid solution, the structures are sprayed over a glass or plastic substrate coated with molecules that secure the rods to the plastic.

Tobacco plants aren't the only organisms Francis and his colleagues have hacked. Skipping a virus entirely, Francis and his colleagues successfully added the chromophore-producing genes to E. coli bacteria, and harvested solar cells from them as well. Using live organisms to create synthetic solar cells has several advantages over traditionally made solar panels. No environmentally toxic chemicals are required to make biologically derived solar cells, unlike traditional solar cells. Growing solar cells in tobacco plants could put farmers back to work harvesting an annual crop of solar cells.

Bio-based solar cells wouldn't last as long as the average silicon solar cell, but they could act as a cheap, transportable, and temporary biodegradable power source. A solution of them could even be sprayed over plastic or glass to harvest energy.

Originally posted by Movhisattva

No environmentally toxic chemicals are required to make biologically derived solar cells, unlike traditional solar cells.

Bio-based solar cells wouldn't last as long as the average silicon solar cell, but they could act as a cheap, transportable, and temporary biodegradable power source. A solution of them could even be sprayed over plastic or glass to harvest energy.

This is where I have a problem, it's in the phrasing and catch words.

No environmentally toxic chemicals
How do you produce glass or plastic without toxic chemicals ?

biodegradable power source
Glass and plastic are not biodegradable.

temporary
Most power requirements become permanent once in use, temporary won't cut it.


As much as I like tobacco, I'll probably just continue burning it to help heat my home. Cycling it through my lungs is only the method I use to achieve maximum exothermic results.

Has anyone seen my lighter, it's a bit chilly now.

reply to post by anxietydisorder


lol anxietydisorder you are an enabler. I'll smoke to that. Cheers

Second line.

I want to have solar panel using in tobacco. How can you produce an equipment like that? Your comment is most appreciated.
Sunpowerport Solar Generator

reply to post by dextercath96

I believe you'll have to contact Matt Francis at the University of California, Berkeley. Or go through his research. Good luck

... infected with a genetically engineered virus, to produce artificial photovoltaic and photochemical cells.

Anytime I hear the word Virus, the hairs on my neck stand. So much technology and information in this future of ours, allowing our scientists to play god.

reply to post by anxietydisorder


Correction...

Biodegradable Plastic

Glass is biodegradable as well..... In a million years time....

reply to post by anxietydisorder



Almost anything is biodegradable, it just depends on how long you want to give it.

Mod Note: Excessive Quoting – Please Review This Link

[edit on Mon Feb 8 2010 by Jbird]

SHOULD be titled "New Rationale to Revive a Dying Industry."

Good try though. ...Seems to me that any plant could be used to make bio-based photo cells, no? Hey! Wait! That would be photosynthesis wouldn't it?!?

Wow