Photosynthesis and Photovoltaics

A friend sent me this piece on photosynthesis and photovoltaics, which claims that commercially viable biohybrid solar cells would be a manifold breakthrough for solar power; their key components are abundant and renewable, so producing them would cost less and be better for the environment than traditional solar cells.

I’m not an expert on this, but I’m extremely skeptical.  Biological processes evolved over 4 billion years to enhance the survival, growth, and reproductive capabilities of the organism, not to retain unneeded energy so people could come along in the 21st Century and run their air conditioners.  The efficiency of garden-variety PV is about 25% and steadily improving.  Biological processes will not compete with that.