Scientists at Bath University are turning to a bizarre new source to find new technology to turn sunlight into electricity: raspberries.
Researchers at the University have begun using raspberries to help them find ways of producing cheaper and more environmentally friendly solar cells.
The chemistry department at the University has an international reputation for its work on finding new routes to low cost solar cells.
Their research has found that conventional solar cells use silicon to absorb and conduct sunlight, but specially designed dye molecules mean that electricity can be produced more cheaply and using greener materials.
To prove the point, the department is using the natural dye of squashed raspberries to demonstrate the solar cells at work.
The department is copying the natural process of photosynthesis in plants, which is the process of converting light energy into chemical energy.
By replicating the process in the laboratory it is constructing new forms of solar cells to convert sunlight into energy.
The research into solar cells is one of a number of programmes within the University’s Department of Chemistry that have been showcased at a number of prestigious science festivals including a special science day at Buckingham Palace recently.
No comments yet