Butterfly Posture Leads to More Efficient Solar Cells

Aug-04-15 In an effort to improve solar cell efficiency, researchers have turned to the postures used by butterflies to heat up their muscles before taking off in flight.

A team from the University of Exeter has created a new v-shaped solar cell design based on the way the Cabbage butterfly will spread its wings to gather heat for its flight muscles. The Cabbage butterfly was chosen for this biomimicry design because the insects will take flight on cloudy days before the other butterflies—indicating that they have a way to maximize the solar energy on their thorax.

Using this knowledge, the team created a thin, lightweight material that can be formed into a V shape that will concentrate the sun’s energy onto solar panels—resulting in a increased solar output of almost fifty percent.

More Info about this Invention:

[INHABITAT.COM]
[PHYS.ORG]

---