Scientists have unlocked the secret behind the cabbage white butterfly’s ability to get airborne when the sun is not shining and hope this can make solar energy more effective.
By mimicking the V-shaped posture cabbage white butterflies use to warm up their flight muscles, power providers would be able to generate photovoltaic energy more efficiently.
Aware that cabbage white butterflies take flight before rival species on cloudy days, a team of experts from the University of Exeter has been studying butterfly wing structure and the way it uses “reflectance basking” to give the insect head start in the morning.
Copying the same designs would have incredible benefits for solar panels, increasing the power produced by more than 50 per cent as well as increasing the power-to-weight ratio of solar energy structure 17-fold.
Experts at the Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) and the Centre for Ecology and Conservation, based at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall, published their research - White butterflies as solar photovoltaic concentrators – today in the leading journal, Scientific Reports.
Professor Tapas Mallick, lead author of the research said:“Biomimicry in engineering is not new. However, this truly multidisciplinary research shows pathways to develop low cost solar power that have not been done before.”
This proves that the lowly cabbage white is not just a pest of your cabbages but actually an insect that is an expert at harvesting solar energy
Richard french-Constant
The team also studied the tiny sub structures of butterfly wings which allow light to reflected more efficiently and ensures their flight muscles are warmed to an optimal temperature as quickly as possible.
For butterflies, taking flight early means getting to the best supplies of nectar before other species.
On a human scale, it could mean solar farms become a bigger player in the quest for cleaner, cheaper renewable energy.
One of the areas the research team investigated was how to replicate butterfly wings to develop a new, lightweight reflective material that could be used in solar energy production.
To read more at: http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/595161/Butterfly-energy-prices-solar-power
By mimicking the V-shaped posture cabbage white butterflies use to warm up their flight muscles, power providers would be able to generate photovoltaic energy more efficiently.
Aware that cabbage white butterflies take flight before rival species on cloudy days, a team of experts from the University of Exeter has been studying butterfly wing structure and the way it uses “reflectance basking” to give the insect head start in the morning.
Copying the same designs would have incredible benefits for solar panels, increasing the power produced by more than 50 per cent as well as increasing the power-to-weight ratio of solar energy structure 17-fold.
Experts at the Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) and the Centre for Ecology and Conservation, based at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall, published their research - White butterflies as solar photovoltaic concentrators – today in the leading journal, Scientific Reports.
Professor Tapas Mallick, lead author of the research said:“Biomimicry in engineering is not new. However, this truly multidisciplinary research shows pathways to develop low cost solar power that have not been done before.”
This proves that the lowly cabbage white is not just a pest of your cabbages but actually an insect that is an expert at harvesting solar energy
Richard french-Constant
The team also studied the tiny sub structures of butterfly wings which allow light to reflected more efficiently and ensures their flight muscles are warmed to an optimal temperature as quickly as possible.
For butterflies, taking flight early means getting to the best supplies of nectar before other species.
On a human scale, it could mean solar farms become a bigger player in the quest for cleaner, cheaper renewable energy.
One of the areas the research team investigated was how to replicate butterfly wings to develop a new, lightweight reflective material that could be used in solar energy production.
To read more at: http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/595161/Butterfly-energy-prices-solar-power
No comments:
Post a Comment