Increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic streetlight through microalgal fuel cell Spirulina sp. series circuit prototypes.

Climate change is one of the various problems faced by various countries. Many sectors that contribute to climate change, electricity, and heat production were identified as the main contributors to CO2 emissions worldwide. On the other hand, Spirulina sp. potential for becoming power generator because it has good photosynthetic efficiency as anolyte biophotovoltaic devices. This research aims to test the effectiveness of photovoltaic using Spirulina sp. and develop Spirulina sp. as streetlights. The prototype uses 21 pairs of Spirulina sp. microalgal fuel cells as generator, based on voltage measurements using 100 ml anolyte and 500 ml catholyte which produces voltage value 405 mV. Using 21 pairs of series circuits, the voltage value obtained is 17.6 V. This prototype is equipped with aeration system to support the life of Spirulina sp. and equipped with LDR sensor for automation refers to the presence/absence of sunlight. Based on the results, there are challenges in the form of prototype sizes that are not suitable for streetlights in general, so further studies are needed to implement and commercial photovoltaic streetlights based on Spirulina sp. microalgal fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]