Open AccessLimits on Natural Photosynthesis
Author(s) -
Rienk van Grondelle,
Egbert Boeker
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the journal of physical chemistry b
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.864
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1520-6106
pISSN - 1520-5207
DOI - 10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b03024
Subject(s) - photosynthesis , limit (mathematics) , solar energy , infrared , physics , natural (archaeology) , astronomy , botany , biology , mathematics , ecology , mathematical analysis , paleontology
Photosynthesis in nature does not use the far infrared part of the solar spectrum (λ > 900 nm), comprising about 30% of the incoming solar energy. By simple thermodynamic arguments it is explained that this is due to the unavoidable back reactions during the night. It follows that λ ≈ 900 nm provides a natural limit on artificial photosynthesis. The same limit holds for a two-tandem Si solar cell.
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