Photosynthesis & Solar Photovoltaic Technology What Is Term Paper

Photosynthesis & Solar Photovoltaic Technology

What is photosynthesis and how does photosynthesis work? How is process of photosynthesis linked to photovoltaic technologies? How are they the same and how are they different? This paper will delve into those issues and provide answers to the questions.

Photosynthesis is the process in which green plants create their own food thanks to sunlight shining on them. Animals eat other organisms for their nutrient intake, but plants make their food thanks to the fact that they have chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the pigment that creates the green color in plants and it "…captures the Sun's energy and uses it to make sugars out of carbon dioxide from the air and water" (Ohio State University, 2008). The sugars are vital to the process because they provide fuel for the roots of the plant, the stems and leaves of the plant, and allow the plant to continue to grow. And once the plant has made adequate food through sunlight to provide a healthy condition for the plant, it releases oxygen into the air, and of course oxygen is what humans and animals need in order to breathe and live.

In the Handbook of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, the authors point out that photosynthesis takes place in three phases: a) "light harvesting by antenna systems"; b) "conversion of excitonic energy to chemical energy"; and c) "synthesis and export of products" (i.e., oxygen) (Luque, 2011).

Meanwhile, the conversion of sunlight to electricity is a process known as photovoltaic (PV) technology. Basically it is an artificial strategy to repeat what photosynthesis does in the natural world, Luque explains). In the natural world light is converted into chemical energy, and this is achieved because of: a) "proximal location of molecular components"; b) energy received in "excited states"; and c) "time, concerning the rates of competing processes" (Luque). Moreover, in PV technology Sunlight strikes the solar cells and through artificial "bonding strategies" that are "covalent and non-covalent" electricity is produced.

Author Tetsuo Soga explains that "…the physics of organic PV cells is much closer to that other, much older and more sophisticated, example of organic electronics: photosynthesis" (Mapel, et al., 2007, p. 335). In fact photosynthetic plants and bacteria are known to "…utilize organic molecules….....