You don’t need thousands of dollars of expensive equipment to create solar panels, it turns out all you really need is a petri dish.
Scientists at MIT recently discovered that molecules will create their own solar panels by spontaneously assembling themselves into a pattern that turns light into electricity. To quote Bill Nye the Science Guy, “Science rules!”
The team had set out to develop a synthetic photosynthesis and found while certain molecules respond to light, if they were put together in a substance under a consistent structure they would conduct an electric current. Phospholipids will attach themselves to carbon nanotubes, while the photoreactive molecules are all exposed to light, the tube acts as a wire, producing an electric current.
The cool thing about this molecule solar panel is that the entire thing can be broken down by spraying on the right chemicals. If the chemical is removed with a membrane, the solar panel reassembles itself back together with no loss of energy. Geek out on that!
Via Device