# I Charge to the Finish 'Cos I'm Made With Spinach! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 22, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-charge-to-the-finish-cos-im-made-with-spinach/265436 "2004-09-22T03:22:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-charge-to-the-finish-cos-im-made-with-spinach/265436/1 "2004-09-22T03:22:36Z")
[I’m Popeye the solar cell!](http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996434) > [@](#): > > An electronic device that uses spinach to convert light into electrical charge has been developed by US researchers. > > Shuguang Zhang at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, and research collaborators integrated a protein complex derived from spinach chloroplasts with organic semiconductors to make a solar cell that could be combined with solid state electronics. Practical models are a long way off, however. > [@](#): > > The system is far from perfect, however. The peptides used only keep the protein complex stable for about three weeks and the cells convert only 12% of light to electrical charge. But Zhang says efficiency could be boosted dramatically by layering numerous cells on top of one another, as they will still let some light through. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-charge-to-the-finish-cos-im-made-with-spinach/265436/2 "2004-09-22T03:53:57Z")
Heh! More evidence of [the Popeyeist Conspiracy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=276625&page=2)!! :dubious: