PHOTOVOLTAIC ROOT STIMULATION

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Recent tests show that you can raise healthy plants without bright sunlight, using . . .

Everybody knows that there's nothing better than sunlight for promoting plant growth. Or is there? Well, there may not be anything that can actually replace ol' Sol . . . but could there be a better way to use sunlight to help plants grow?

If recent scientific studies on the electrical stimulation of roots bear out in the real world, the answer is . . . yes! These controlled laboratory experiments have produced heartier plants and bigger harvests. Sound exciting? Then let's dig into the details of this potential breakthrough.

PLANT GROWTH

Before a leaf can turn the sunbeams it absorbs into food (a process known as photosynthesis ), it must have a source of raw materials. Nutrients are absorbed from the soil by the plant through a vast network of roots . . . intricate structures that contribute as much to a plant's growth as does sunlight.

As a matter of fact, an average plant's root system is fully as large as the structure it supports. Few people are aware that a healthy four-inch-tall plant can be expected to have roots that extend at least four inches below the ground. Of course, this isn't true of all plants, but it's the norm for most productive crops.

Now since the top half of a plant is dependent on the bottom half, it seems logical that stimulating the growth of the roots might lead to a proportional increase in the size of the greenery above. As you'll see, this appears to be the case. Through a process that isn't yet thoroughly understood, mild electrical stimulation of a plant's roots can indeed promote the growth of the entire organism.

One theory for the phenomenon holds that the electrical stimulation actually supplements the energy received from the sun. But whatever the reason may be, documented studies show that plants that receive electrical root stimulation often grow faster and are heartier than those raised without the treatment.

PV AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Naturally, electrical root stimulation requires a source of power. And what better source of free electricity could you ask for than a photovoltaic solar cell?

As in the photosynthetic process, a solar cell absorbs a photon of light and converts it into energy . . . electrical, in this case. Unlike photosynthesis, though, a solar cell does a much more efficient job of converting light into energy. A typical PV cell, such as the kind you can find in a Radio Shack store, converts at least 10% of the light it receives into electricity. Photosynthesis, on the other hand, is hard pressed to turn 0.1 % of the available light into energy.

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