Moth Eyes Solar Panels

Scientists have developed yet another nature inspired technology which holds the potential to boost the efficiency of solar cells.

Moth eyes solar panels.

Researchers have now used the moth eye structure as the basis of a highly efficient solar absorbing. The design of the moth s eye might also be applied to solar power. The japanese moth eye film based on the results of indoor and outdoor tests of crystalline silicon solar panels coated with the film the team s computer models indicated that use of the film could. Scientists at brookhaven national laboratory have developed a way to create an ultra tiny texture on silicon which is the most common material for solar panels that cuts down on a solar panel s reflection in the same way that a moth s eyes operate.

When light hits their eyes much of it is absorbed and passes into its cornea without disruption or reflection. Speaking with electronics weekly silva added moths eyes have microscopic patterning that allows them to see in the dimmest conditions. Light reflection between films that causes light to be lost. Silicon solar panels may reflect as much as 35 percent of light a significant waste of potential energy.

Researchers at north carolina state university are looking to biomimicry to solve one of thin film solar technology s biggest problems. However by imitating the orderly bumps of the moth s eye jiang and his collaborators fabricated a silicon that reflected less than 3 percent of light. The paper like panels will be designed. Researchers look to nature to improve solar power efficiency basically the moth s compound eye has textured patterns that are made up of tiny posts each one smaller than the wavelength of light.

When scientists at the oak ridge national lab went rifling through nature s drawers on their hunt for a more efficient solar panel they missed the eye of newt but they did find inspiration in a. Moth eyes absorb almost all incident light thus reducing reflection that predators would notice. These work by channelling light towards the middle of the. The creature which they mimicked is the moth or its eyes to be more precise.