Project description
Developing a bio-inspired solution for solar energy collection
In-orbit and space stations have been crucial for a variety of research fields and efforts to expand space exploration and technologies. Recently, they have also become essential for operating and maintaining communication technologies. However, increasing energy demands have hindered further advancement. The EIC-funded APACE project aims to revolutionise space self-sustainability by developing an innovative bio-inspired sunlight-pumped laser that converts diffused natural sunlight into a coherent laser beam, along with a photosynthetic antenna for solar energy collection. This technology could lay the groundwork for advanced solar harvesting systems, potentially enabling in situ fabrication on space stations.
Objective
Creating new technologies towards long-term in space self-sustainability is essential to solve the problem of the increasing energy demand both in space and on Earth. Biology can provide the answer to this challenge, self-sustainability being the defining characteristic of life.
APACE will demonstrate a novel type of bio-inspired sunlight pumped laser, based on photosynthetic complexes, that is capable of upgrading diffuse natural sunlight into a coherent laser beam. In the APACE core strategy, lasing units composed of engineered molecular systems or doped nanocrystals will be attached to a bacteria photosynthetic antenna complex to obtain an engineered photosynthetic antenna. The engineered antennae, dispersed in a polymeric matrix or in solution, will form a supramolecular gain medium, which will be placed in an optical cavity to build a sunlight pumped laser. Bacterial photosynthetic complexes are nanoscale molecular structures with the unique ability to funnel the collected solar energy with almost 100% efficiency. Exploiting these extraordinary properties, the APACE bio-inspired laser will be able to operate under unconcentrated sunlight, with at least two orders of magnitude enhanced efficiency over existing designs. APACE will thus lay the foundation for a novel solar harvesting technology that could ultimately be fabricated in situ on permanent space stations, and that may benefit from a similar scalability as photovoltaic panels. The collected energy can be used for in situ energy production (e.g. hydrogen generation) as well as for wireless power transmission to satellites or to Earth by infrared laser beams.
Fields of science
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-EIC - HORIZON EIC GrantsCoordinator
50121 Florence
Italy