Solar Panel Efficiency Vs Photosynthesis

Factors that affect solar panel efficiency.

Solar panel efficiency vs photosynthesis.

Which are better to capture solar energy. The photosynthetic efficiency is the fraction of light energy converted into chemical energy during photosynthesis in green plants and algae. The desire to use solar energy to provide humans with more environmentally friendly electricity has inspired scientists to find the most efficient way to cultivate energy directly from the sun. While solar panels are straining at the theoretical limits of their efficiency seeking to break free there s still a place for artificial photosynthesis.

In reality the efficiency of photosynthesis is much lower and is usually below 1 with some exceptions such as sugarcane in tropical climate. Photosynthetic organisms are able to collect about 50 of incident solar radiation however the theoretical limit of photosynthetic efficiency is 4 6 and 6 0 for c3 and c4 plants respectively. The average efficiency of solar panels falls between the 17 to 19 percent efficiency range. Even with the robust sales solar panels aren t terribly efficient converting only about 10 15 percent of the sun s rays into useable and storable energy.

Where c 6 h 12 o 6 is glucose which is subsequently transformed into other sugars cellulose lignin and so forth. The highest efficiency solar panels on the market today can reach almost 23 percent efficiency. Photosynthesis can be described by the simplified chemical reaction 6 h 2 o 6 co 2 energy c 6 h 12 o 6 6 o 2. Natural solar energy is used by plants in the process of.

What you need to know. This large jump in efficiency resulted in the power output of a standard size. Artificial photosynthesis can be a carbon negative source of liquid fuels like ethanol. Solar panel efficiency is a measurement of a solar panel s ability to convert sunlight into usable electricity.

The difference between photosynthesis and solar cells. Solar panels have been consistently increasing in efficiency at about 5 annually since 2010. Given the same amount of sunlight shining for the same duration of time on two solar panels with different efficiency ratings the more efficient panel will produce more electricity than the less efficient panel. Solar panel efficiency is a measure of the amount of solar energy irradiation which falls on a panel surface and is converted into electricity due to the many recent advances in solar cell technology over the last 5 years average panel conversion efficiency has increased from 15 to 20.

Determining the relative efficiency of photosynthesis and photovoltaics is not a simple problem by david biello on may 12 2011.