Solar Cell Efficiency: Eye of Moth Vs. Petal of Rose #Biomimicry
A team from Germany is researching rose petals and the their ability to improve solar cell efficiency, Via cleantechnica
Moth eyes were last year’s big thing in solar cell biomimicry, and now it looks like a new challenger has stepped into the ring. A research team from Germany’s Karlsruher Institut für Technologie has zeroed in on the nanoscale structure of rose petals — specifically, the El Toro variety — to improve thin-film solar cell efficiency by up to 13%.
…
The researchers note that plants have received quite a bit of attention for their anti-reflective and water-repelling powers, which serve as an inspiration for self-cleaning solar panels and other materials.
Applying their unique surface structure to solar cell efficiency is another story. You can find the new study under the title “Flower Power: Exploiting Plants’ Epidermal Structures for Enhanced Light Harvesting in Thin-Film Solar Cells” in the journal Advanced Optical Materials.
Do take a look if only to enjoy the rose-worthy presentation that precedes the nuts and bolts (and to find out how the team hit up El Toro as a research subject), but for those of you on the go, here’s the takeaway:
…the hierarchical structures decorating the petals of Rosa ‘El Toro’ are replicated into a transparent resist layer to form highly efficient light harvesting elements that can be applied to any photovoltaic technology.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: The latest on Raspberry Pi RP2350-E9, Bluetooth 6, 4,000 Stars and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
