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https://physics.aps.org/articles/v17/106

Crops on a farm capture only about 3% of the available solar energy, much less than the 20%–25% captured by large solar arrays. Now a research team has used a theoretical model to explain efficiencies as high as 67% for photosynthesizing algae hosted by giant clams […]

Seeking efficient designs, Sweeney and colleagues looked to giant clams, which can grow to 4 feet across, thanks to symbiotic algae that produce some essential clam nutrients. The algae live in 100-µm-wide vertical columns within interior clam tissues that extend to the shell edges and receive sunlight through the shell opening. This light scatters through a layer of translucent cells at the surface and then descends through the algal columns where light is absorbed for photosynthesis.