Surprisingly not! I’d have expected photosynthesis to have similar energy efficiency to man-made solar panels, but it’s actually only around 11%. I suppose since leaves have more functions than just energy generation for a plant, it’s not usually an evolutionary imerative to maximise efficiency. There’s probably a bit of variation between different geographic regions, I’d imagine.
I think plants are pretty close?
Surprisingly not! I’d have expected photosynthesis to have similar energy efficiency to man-made solar panels, but it’s actually only around 11%. I suppose since leaves have more functions than just energy generation for a plant, it’s not usually an evolutionary imerative to maximise efficiency. There’s probably a bit of variation between different geographic regions, I’d imagine.