Researchers from Yale have identified giant clams, with their unique photosynthetic structures and light-scattering capabilities, as a potential model for improving solar panel efficiency. These clams, which thrive in the intense sunlight of tropical coral reefs, have a quantum efficiency far surpassing current solar technologies. The study highlights the importance of biodiversity in inspiring sustainable technology and suggests that future solar panels might incorporate similar biological mechanisms. Credit: SciTechDaily.com

A recent study by Yale researcher Alison Sweeney suggests that giant clams in the Western Pacific could be the most efficient solar energy system in the world.

According to a new Yale-led study, designers of solar panels and biorefineries could gain valuable insights from the iridescent giant clams found near tropical coral reefs.

This is because giant clams have precise geometries — dynamic, vertical columns of photosynthetic receptors covered by a thin, light-scattering layer — that may just make them the most efficient solar energy systems on Earth.

“It’s counter-intuitive to a lot of people, because clams operate in intense sunlight, but actually they’re really dark on the inside,” said Alison Sweeney, associate professor of physics and of ecology and evolutionary biology in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “The truth is that clams are more efficient at solar energy conversion than any existing solar panel technology.”

In the new study, published in the journal PRX: Energy, a research team led by Sweeney presents an analytical model for determining the maximum efficiency of photosynthetic systems based on the geometry, movement, and light-scattering characteristics of giant clams. It is the latest in a series of research studies from Sweeney’s lab that highlight biological mechanisms from the natural world that could inspire new sustainable materials and designs.

Solar Potential of Giant Clams

In this case, the researchers looked specifically at the impressive solar energy potential of iridescent giant clams in the shallow waters of Palau in the Western Pacific.

The clams are photosymbiotic, with vertical cylinders of single-celled algae growing on their surface. The algae absorb sunlight — after the light has been scattered by a layer of cells called iridocytes.

Both the geometry of the algae and the light scattering of the iridocytes are important, the researchers say. The algae’s arrangement in vertical columns — which makes them parallel to the incoming light — enables the algae to absorb sunlight at the most efficient rate. This is because the sunlight has been filtered and scattered by the layer of iridocytes, and the light then wraps uniformly around each vertical algae cylinder.

Credit: SciTechDaily