In nature, green leaves collect light and produce energy. Is this what they copied to make solar panels? If not how hard would it be to make artificial leaves that would power our homes?
Not at all. Good guess but they are completely different processes. Solar panels use chemicals that create electricity when exposed to light. Photons pretty much add energy to the atoms and affect the electrons creating electricity. Feel free to look up how solar cells work online.
Solar panels may have been inspired by leaves, by they don't function in the same way. Leaves use the sunlight to make carbon dioxide into carbohydrates. Solar-panels makes sunlight into electricity.
No, although they both use the capture of energy from electrons excited to a higher state by sunlight, plants use enzymes (mostly chlorophyll) packed in chloroplasts; solar panels still largely use silicon. There are some companies exploring the use of a plant enzyme-based process since it's so much more efficient. The farthest they've gotten is using organic nanocrystal pigments instead of silicon crystals.
Solar panels were not made to copy leaves. Leaves have molecules that become excited when they are hit by light. They store this energy in ADP molecules and ATP molecules. This works great for biological processes, but until we learn how to use Adenosine Di/Triphosphate to transport energy, we are better off sticking with our solar panels. They produce electricity, which we know how to use.
