A biohybrid solar panel that substitutes expensive silicon components for a spinach protein has been granted some substantial Phase II funding from the EPA. Students from the Vanderbilt School of Engineering managed to stand out from 44 other university teams vying for funding at the National Sustainable Design Expo held in Washington DC. The team's large-scale panel only ekes out a small amount of electricity from the photosynthetic proteins at the moment, but according to Professor Kane Jennings, the cash injection from the EPA will help achieve higher energy conversion ratios over the next few years. Perhaps you could try wrapping them up into giant 3D cubes, Professor.

[Thanks Brandon]

Spinach-based solar cells get $90,000 development funds from EPA, Popeye delighted originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.