Solar Power System Inspired By Sunflowers Comes To Light

An electrical and computer engineering professor, Hongrui Jiang, has come up with a technique to embed heliotropism within solar power systems. In Heliotropism's language - " Heliotropism is the diurnal motion of plant parts (flowers or leaves) in response to the direction of the Sun". The phenomenon is usually observed in sunflowers and is now brought to solar power systems enabling them to trap maximum solar energy by following sun's direction. The concept involves using carbon nanotubes which are capable of absorbing a wide range of light wavelengths, and liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) which contracts by heat.

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Construction includes a mirror placed beneath the solar panel and a number of actuators made of LCE laced with carbon nanotubes. Depending upon direction of the Sun, mirror focuses sunlight on one of the actuators enabling carbon nanotubes to absorb all possible sunlight leading to a temperature difference between environment and inside of the actuator. As a result, LCE contracts bending system in the direction of maximum sunlight. The technology is responsible for keeping the system faced towards Sun, leading to an increased efficiency of solar panel by around 10%.

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