Solar panels – the science

May 13 2008 by Catrin Pascoe, Western Mail

IN a silicon solar cell, energy is captured when light strikes the silicon and an electron jumps to an excited level and travels around an electric circuit.

In a leaf, solar energy is captured when an electron in a dye molecule within a leaf becomes excited.

The energy of the electron is then stored as chemical energy (that is, as a carbohydrate).

In the biosolar cell concept, the aim is to capture energy using the same dye systems used in leaves.

However, the Bangor scientists want to concentrate this effect and use the electrons created as electricity.