Spanish Students Create Plant Solar Panels

Apostolos Marios Muzakopoulos and his fellow students at the Institute of Progressive Architecture in Catalonia have developed a solar panel powered by plants, moss and soil. They say eliminating hazardous toxic materials and heavy metals in solar panel manufacturing could lead to major improvements in the industry. Students are advised to use special bacteria in tiny fuel cells placed in the ground beneath plant roots.
Soil bacteria in this project are used to generate cheap energy in mini-batteries. Plants planted in the soil provide the life cycle of bacteria, and water fuels the entire system. Muzakopoulos says his invention could help people in developing countries without permanent access to electricity. All you need to build a small solar power plant is some agricultural equipment and metal parts. The advantage of this system is that it can work even in areas where there is a little sunshine. Replacing plants with moss, for example, can make batteries more productive in dark places, as moss can grow freely in the shade.
In the revolutionary panels there is a bit of electronics, which does not contain toxic elements that can turn into hazardous waste in the future. The only problem with a plant power plant is its low productivity. Students ask for the help of engineers and biologists to make their invention more useful. Now to provide energy to one house requires a whole section of such panels.

Source: energysafe.ru