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This new solar panel really is green. Instead of using semiconducting silicon, proteins from plants transform light into electricity.

Physicist Andreas Mershin, at Massachusetts Institute for Technology, and his colleagues say they’ve simplified the production of plant-based solar cells so that any lab can make them. Mershin hopes these biological solar panels could provide power in places that currently have no electricity.

“People have been growing their own food for millennia,” he says. “I think it’s time to start growing our own solar power.”

Plants make sugars using energy from the sun in a process called photosynthesis. Protein complexes convert the light energy into electrons, which drive the plant’s sugar-producing factories.

These plant proteins are tuned to maximize the sun’s energy. Practically all of the sunlight that hits them gets converted to electrons. Commercial solar panels struggle to match this efficiency because they can’t absorb all wavelengths of visible light.

Mershin wanted to hijack the efficient electron generators in plants to generate electricity for people. But to build a working solar panel using proteins, he had to stabilize the proteins on the surface so that they perform just like they do in cells. And he had to attach enough of them to generate a measurable current.

Mershin harvested one type of light-collecting protein complex from photosynthetic bacteria. Suspended in a stabilizing solution, the photosynthetic protein complex maintained its shape and function.

He painted the protein solution on a glass slide covered with nano-sized rods of zinc oxide, a common ingredient in sunscreen. The rods hold more protein than the flat surfaces commonly used to make photosynthetic solar panels — enough to give the panel a faint green tinge.

The bio-solar cell converted about 0.1% of sun’s energy into electrical energy — 10,000 times more efficient than previous biosolar cells. Mershin says his plant-based solar cells will never match the conversion efficiencies of commercial solar panels. But even increasing the efficiency to 1% could make these plant-powered panels useful for people in the developing world who have no electricity, he adds.

Mershin hopes other labs around the world will start experimenting with these green solar panels to improving their efficiency and lifetime. His method and results are freely available from a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Instead of throwing plant trimmings or grass clippings onto a compost pile, perhaps one day we’ll set some aside to make solar panels too. It’ll be a whole new way to DIY solar.

Getting power to Alcatraz is its own special conundrum. At various stages of its existence, the island has run on coal, wood, bunker oil, and now diesel fuel, all ferried from the mainland. Image courtesy of the Golden Gate NRA, Park Archives.

Getting anything to Alcatraz Island has always been a headache. Whether it was 10,000 muskets to the military outpost in the 1850s, dirty laundry for prisoners to wash in the 1950s, or 5,000 daily tourists this year, nearly everything animal, vegetable, or mineral on Alcatraz gets there by boat.

This makes Alcatraz a great example of green-ness by necessity. The less efficient you are out there, the greater the hassle factor. Take water, for instance: Every drop of it — for toilets, for water fountains, for the historic prisoners' gardens — must come in from the mainland. So, staff here not only bring their dirty dishes home to wash at the end of the day, they've built a rainwater catchment system to irrigate the gardens.

Getting power to Alcatraz is its own special conundrum. At various stages of its existence, the island has run on coal, wood, bunker oil, and now diesel fuel, all ferried from the mainland. At one point, in the early 20th century, the boats got a brief respite when workers lay cables under the bay to connect Alcatraz to the mainland grid. That experiment ended when boats snagged the cables, leaving Alcatraz once again in the dark.

When the Obama Administration announced $750 million dollars in stimulus funds for the National Parks System, Park officials glimpsed a rare opportunity to solve (or at least mitigate) this problem once and for all. The new solar panels on the island are expected to cost somewhere between $5-10 million, and will be installed in late summer. (That's less than half the estimate, by the way, that engineers gave for digging trenches under the Bay to once again lay cables connecting Alcatraz to PG&E lines.) Once it's up and running in Summer 2011, the system will supply more than half the island's electricity needs.

If you haven't already, check out the terrific slide show that QUEST intern Roberto Daza put together for this story. (It plays with the five-and-a-half minute radio story.) Many thanks to Roberto for his great photos, and also to the National Parks Service, especially Alexandra Picavet, who set up our tour of the island and provided these wonderful archival images of life on Alcatraz.

Listen to Alcatraz Goes Green radio report online.

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Napa Valley is a hot spot for solar panel thieves, but the Sheriff's office is on the case.

The economy may be in the tank but business is booming for solar security companies. A rash of solar panel thefts in the Napa Valley, and elsewhere, have spawned an entire new industry, solar security systems.

It seems that as prices for scrap metal have fallen, thieves have turned their attention to something else popping up in rural areas, solar panels. With more than 34,000 solar installations in California, the state is also reporting the most thefts. Napa Valley is a hot spot because of all the solar systems that have been installed in the past few years. "It is a rural area and these solar arrays are often ground mounted and tucked away in the back of vineyards, it makes them an easy target", says Napa Sheriff Deputy Jon Thompson. The Sheriff's office has been giving wineries safety tips for securing their panels. After being hit twice, Michael Honig of Honig Winery in Rutherford got wise and installed an alarm system. The third time, the thieves got caught in the act. Three local suspects were apprehended.

It is an environmental CSI case of the first order because no one knows where he panels are actually going. In some southern California solar heists, the stolen panels have turned up for sale on Craigslist. But in northern California, the stolen panels have yet to be found. Deepening the mystery, the panels are not likely valuable for their component parts raising the possibility of a black market for panels. There is a lot of speculation where they are going. Some say marijuana growers in Mendocino County are stealing panels to hide their electricity use. Others believe the panels are going off shore. In addition to security, federal legislation may come to the rescue. Congressman Mike Thompson, who represents the Napa Valley, has included a provision against solar thefts in the Solar Technology Roadmap Act. The bill would create a national registry for solar panel serial numbers to try to ‘short circuit' the crooks.

Listen to Solar Thieves radio report online.

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Senior Radio Editor Andrea Kissack also contributed to this post.

When we started working on this project, we thought it would be easy to find people to interview: D.I.Y.ers with a passion for sustainable building who were testing out new technologies in their backyards. We called consultants, local suppliers, green-minded architects, and collected as many leads as we could. We found a handful of great subjects, but we never quite tapped into that centralized hub we'd envisioned. And that, it turned out, was the point. When you're a D.I.Y.er, you tend to D things Y.

Which is what's so appealing about these projects. Green innovators like those we meet in the radio piece and slideshow are working on their own initiative, spending much more time and money than they would with more conventional technologies, and running a high risk of failure. Ultimately, though, we'll all learn from their mistakes.

Wind Turbine

Chris Beaudoin fits one type of these backyard innovators: He's a long-time environmentalist willing to spend some extra cash trying out something new. San Francisco's Department of the Environment put Beaudoin in touch with Blue Green Pacific, a local company that will ultimately have two turbines up and running on Beaudoin's garage. So far there are only about five "micro-wind" projects like this in the city, about half of them operational. But stay tuned. Gavin Newsom is encouraging homeowners to experiment with wind turbines, and the state of California is already offering rebates on home turbines.

Dixon Beatty and Stephanie Parrot, who live in West Oakland, fall at the other end of the spectrum, what I'd call extreme do-it-yourselfers (though I'm sure they'll disagree). They've spent years remodeling a beautiful old Victorian in West Oakland that they still call a work-in-progress, despite well-functioning solar thermal and photovoltaic systems that keep the house warm and lit with almost no help from PG&E.

Dixon Beatty

When Lisa and Michael Rubenstein wanted to build their green dream home in Hillsborough they thought they would derive the majority of their energy from photovoltaic rooftop solar panels. PV Panels, afterall, have been the energy technology of choice for eco-friendly buildings. But as the Rubensteins waded further into construction, their architect suggested a geothermal heating cooling system. They were told geothermal can provide the most energy efficient, environmentally friendly home and so, they decided to go for it. Together, with PV solar and solar thermal panels, the Rubenstein's monthly energy bill is only eight dollars. Not bad for a 6,000 sq. foot home. It was an expensive project but what they have created is an experimental, contemporary home that gives living green a whole new aesthetic.
Lisa and Michael Rubenstein

Also merging modern design with eco-practical, is Sunset Magazine's idea house for 2007. PIX Located in San Francisco's Mission District, Casa Verde is Sunset's first idea house to be focused in an urban setting, The model home features solar and wind power, a green roof and a sleek, eco-friendly aesthetic.

Listen to the"Beyond Solar: Do It Yourself Home Energy radio report online, and watch our Web Extra: Generating Energy Right at Home slideshow.

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7/23/08 UPDATE: The contentious battle between solar energy and redwood trees has come to an end. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill into law that guarantees if California property owners plant a tree before a neighbor installs solar panels the neighbor can't require the tree to be chopped down, or trimmed, if it is shading their solar panels. Check out this article in the San Jose Mercury News.

You may listen to the "The Right to Sunlight: Solar vs. Redwood Trees" Radio report online, as well as find additional links and resources.

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