Plants can easily use sunlight to convert enough substances into energy-rich molecules. The field of artificial photosynthesis started very quickly, and there was research in this field in the early 1970 s, but it didn't break through to the application level. For decades, scientists have studied the structure and materials of plants absorbing sunlight and storing energy, but they have not found a clear "road map".

Until 2004, researchers in Imperial College London, London determined the structure of a group of protein and metals, which played an important role in the release of oxygen from water by plants. Nosila said, "After seeing this, we can start designing the system." He said that artificial photosynthesis can provide a feasible way to store solar energy, so that people's houses do not have to rely on the power grid. In this plan, electricity from solar panels drives electrolyzers to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen is stored. At night or on cloudy days, it is put into fuel cells to generate electricity for lights, electrical appliances and even electric cars. In sunny weather, some solar energy is directly used, bypassing the step of making hydrogen.