system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How efficient is chlorophyll in converting sunlight to energy compared to our best solar cells? If it is more efficient, why don't we copy what those cells do in designing new solar cells?

Presumably we know how plants convert sunlight to energy, so I was wondering if they do so more efficiently than we do with solar cells. Then I got to wondering that if they do, why we don't have some type of artificial chlorophyll that we could use for solar energy.
gpt
>Presumably we know how plants convert sunlight to energy,

Plants convert solar energy into chemical energy with an efficiency around 3-6% depending on the species and other environment factors. Generally, our problem is that this chemical energy is not readily useful to us unless we first convert it into thermal energy (by burning it).

Solar photo-voltaic cells convert solar energy into electric energy with efficiency ranging from 6-45%. The high end of that scale are from experimental designs and may not be mass producible or cost effective. Solar cells in the 15-18% efficiency range are easily acquired on the market.

Solar thermal systems convert solar energy into steam which is then converted into electricity (typically with a steam turbine). A steam turbine in such a system is ~40% efficient but higher system efficiency can be achieved with multi-stage turbines. Environment factors like dust and mirror damage (which is used to focus solar energy) will reduce overall efficiency.