The energy crisis has become one of the major problems hindering the development of the world.The emergence of microbial fuel cells provides a new solution to the energy crisis.Microbial solar cells, integrating photosynthetic organisms such as plants and microalgae into microbial fuel cells, can convert solar energy into electrical energy.Microbial solar cell can not only obtain steady electric energy, but also has broad application prospects in wastewater treatment, biodiesel processing and intermediate metabolites production.Here we reviewed recent progress of microbial solar cells from the perspective of the role of photosynthetic organisms in microbial fuel cells, based on a vast amount of literature, and discussedtheir deficiency.At last, brief analysis of the facing problems of microbial solar cells are undertaken.This work was expected to be beneficial for the real application of the microbial solar cells technology.