Photosynthesis vs Solar Cells

Energy is all around us. It comes in many forms and because of that fact is created in multiple ways. Photosynthesis and the process that a semi-conductor solar goes through (photovoltaic effect) to make energy are just two ways in which energy is created for the various life forms on earth. In comparing the two it’s evident that while they are alike in that they use the sun to produce energy, they are very different in their processes and how efficiently they produce said energy.

Photosynthesis is a process that is used by plants to harness the sun’s energy to produce food. Plants use cells in the leaves to trap the energy from the sunlight. The light trapped from the sun then goes through the process of converting the energy from the sun into the chemical energy of a carbohydrate. The energy used for photosynthesis comes from the photons absorbed by the plant leaves. The photons are reduced to other components by water. The components released are used by the plant to make food. Other components like oxygen are released to the atmosphere. After that, the light energy is converted to chemical energy. The light energy is available either in ATP or NADPH. (Mader, 2009)

A semiconductor solar cell uses photovoltaic panels to harnesses solar energy and converts it into electricity without the use of chemical reactions or moving parts. While they not be as efficient as photosynthesis they are a viable source of creating energy from the earth’s natural resources. (Seale)

Photo synthesis and the photovoltaic effect are similar in that they both harness the suns energy to produce energy. Yet plants use photosynthesis to trap energy from the sun and use it to manufacture food while solar cells trap energy from the sun and convert it to electricity. Another similarity between photosynthesis and semiconductor solar cell is that both have cells that trap energy from the sun. The difference in cells is that one is man-made while the other is part of a living organism....