Flexi Says: The excited electrons then bounce to a series of carrier molecules, losing a small amount of energy at each step. Most of the “lost” energy powers some small cellular task, such as moving ions across a membrane or building up another molecule. Another short-term energy carrier important to photosynthesis, NADPH, holds chemical energy a bit longer but soon that energy is used to help to build sugar. NADPH is the reduced form of NADP+, Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate. NADP+ accepts an electron at the end of the light reactions electron transport chain of photosynthesis. Two related short term energy carriers, NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) and FADH2 (flavin adenine dinucleotide) are used during cellular respiration.
