Renewable energies are growing at a very rapid rate. What we least expect that can contribute to improving the efficiency of clean energy ends up being the most useful. This is what has happened with a study carried out by scientists from the United States and Germany, who have discovered that the wings of black butterflies are covered by scales that are capable of harvesting sunlight at many angles and wavelengths. Thanks to this study, it has been possible to develop an ethnic group that allows to increase the absorption of solar cells by up to 200%.
How can the scales of a butterfly contribute to the development of renewable energy?
Butterfly wings
The work has been carried out between Researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Karlsruh Institute of Technology (KIT), and published in the journal Science Advances in its latest issue. The study has focused on a species of black butterfly whose habitat is found in South and Southeast Asia. In particular it is about the butterfly Pachliopta aristolochiae.
The wings of these butterflies are covered with quite small and thin scales that are capable of harvesting sunlight in a wide range of wavelengths and lightSo for solar panels, this is quite a discovery. It must be taken into account that a large part of the efficiency and effectiveness of solar panels depends on the amount of solar radiation that falls on it and that it is capable of capturing to transform into energy.
Light absorption
These butterfly wings are quite efficient, since they have a structure based on ridges and small holes that give mechanical stability when harvesting light. In order to fully understand how light absorption works thanks to these wings, the experts who worked on this research designed a 3D model of the nanostructures. This model has images in microscopic size of the wings and thanks to this the ability to absorb light can be calculated. The results showed a 200% increase in absorption built into the model made with nanoholes.
As you can see, what seems least useful, in the end can help us with renewable energy.
You do not know what is said in the article, thanks for clarifying a little on the subject, since I work in the solar panel industry.