Do you need lighting? Boiled potatoes provide enough energy to light a room for 40 days

Making a Battery from Boiling Potatoes

Despite the ridiculousness of the idea, the team demonstrated that potatoes can generate electricity. According to Rabinowitch, a single potato can power enough LED bulbs for a room for 40 days.

This is a classic experiment performed in high school science classes to show the operation of batteries. Meanwhile, Rabinowitch and his colleagues discovered that potatoes may be a more promising energy source than previously thought.

To build a DIY battery, you'll need the following materials:

• The negative electrode is 1 anode (like zinc)

• The positive electrode has 1 cathode (like copper)

• 1 potato

In 1780, Luigi Galvani discovered the use of boiling potatoes as a conductor. When he linked two metals to the frog legs, the muscles began to twitch. A frog, on the other hand, isn't required; a variety of materials can accomplish the same effect. Galvani's contemporary, Alexander Volta, used saltwater-soaked paper with comparable results. Some people have placed a pail of water or a pile of soil between the two metal plates.

Low-Cost Alternative Energy

Despite being a high school staple, potatoes have never been officially explored as a power source. As a result, in 2010, Rabinowitch accepted the challenge. His partners were Boris Rubinsky of the University of California, Berkeley, and Alex Goldberg, a Ph.D. student.

"We examined 20 different types of potatoes and analyzed their internal resistance, which allowed us to calculate how much energy was lost owing to heat," Goldberg explains.

After eight minutes of boiling, the organic tissues in the potatoes degraded, lowering the barrier between electrons. As a result, more energy is generated. They increased the strength even further by slicing the potato and sandwiching each piece between metal plates.

"We discovered we could increase output tenfold, which made it economically appealing because energy costs are decreasing," Goldberg explains.

"It's low voltage energy," Rabinowitch says, "but it's enough to make a battery that might charge mobile phones or laptops in areas without a grid or power connection."

This potato technique costs nearly six times less than regular kerosene lighting. It might also cost $9 per kilowatt-hour instead of the $49–84 per kilowatt-hour that a standard battery would. Not only that, but potatoes are cheap and simple to store.

Why aren't potato batteries more popular?

"We anticipated groups would be interested," Rabinowitch adds. "We assumed Indian politicians would pass them out with their names etched on them." They're less than a $1.

Years have passed since the first experiment, but 1.2 billion people still lack access to electricity worldwide; why haven't leaders and corporations embraced the modest potato battery?

"The basic explanation is that they aren't aware of it," Rabinowitch says, but there is a more sophisticated one.

To begin with, utilizing food to generate energy is problematic; according to Olivier Dubois, a senior natural resources officer at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), this form of energy might reduce food supply and compete with farmers who cultivate them for the market.

"First and foremost, check to see if there are enough potatoes to go around." So, aren't we competing with farmers who make a living by selling potatoes? "So, absolutely, it can work if eating potatoes is covered, selling potatoes is covered, and there are some potatoes left," he says.

"Boiled potatoes are Out of Fashion"

Second, the idea of cooking potato batteries isn't really attractive. It's difficult to get rid of the idea that they're just a cheap vegetable.

"At the end of the day," says Gaurav Manchanda, creator of One Degree Solar, "they are all consumers," and they must realize its worth not only in terms of performance but also of status.

Alternative energy is currently assuming the more fashionable forms of solar and wind power, as indicated by recent infrastructure expenditures, but Rabinowitch's prototype has yet to be expanded by any investor or organization.