Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) is advancing renewable energy research through bio-photovoltaic solar cell technology that uses photosynthetic pigments from purple bacteria to generate electricity. The project is being led by researchers at BRIN’s Research Centre for Nanotechnology Systems to harness the photosynthetic capabilities of Rhodobacter sphaeroides, bacteria known for their efficient light-harvesting properties. Researchers are using the reaction centre-light-harvesting 1 (RC-LH1) protein complex from bacteria as a light-absorbing layer in solar