According to BioSolar, a California-based company, it has developed a new technology that produces materials for photovoltaic solar panels with help from castor beans of all things.
The company reports that the castor beans are used to make a polyamide resin that is combined with a non-petroleum material to create a photovoltaic backsheet film.
"Over the past month, we have been demonstrating the BioBacksheet to major solar panel manufacturers. They are all excited about the BioBacksheet due to its high durability and improved performance over other backsheets on the market, and have requested large quantities for full scale integration trials into their solar panel production lines," said Dr. David Lee, the CEO of BioSolar.
This is not the only way that plants can contribute to the generation of solar energy. Researchers have also been working with organic dyes that have photovoltaic properties. Such materials would work as ultra-thin photovoltaic surfaces that for example could be printed onto various materials.
