Moth eyes inspire new film to boost solar power
By ANIFriday, January 21, 2011
WASHINGTON - Researchers in Japan have created a new film that when covered onto solar cells, can cut down on the amount of reflected light and help capture more power from the sun.
The idea was inspired by moths, whose eyes allow them to see well at night, are also covered with a water-repellent, antireflective coating that makes their eyes among the least reflective surfaces in nature and helps them hide from predators in the dark.
“Surface reflections are an essential loss for any type of photovoltaic module, and ultimately low reflections are desired,” says Noboru Yamada at Nagaoka University of Technology Japan.
Their estimates show that the annual efficiency of solar cells by 6 percent in Phoenix and by 5 percent in Tokyo.
“People may think this improvement is very small, but the efficiency of photovoltaics is just like fuel consumption rates of road vehicles,” said Yamada.
The team is now working on improving the durability of the film and optimizing it for many different types of solar cells.
The study appears in Energy Express. (ANI)
