Taking a cue from butterflies scientists have suggested that these humble insects could hold the key to developing technologies that will harvest solar energy in a cheaper and more efficient way.
Researchers from the University of Exeter examined the way in which Cabbage White butterflies heat up their flight muscles before take-off, and based on their observations have suggested that mimicking the v-shaped posture adopted by the butterflies could increase the amount of power produced by solar panels by up to 50 per cent.
Researchers also found that replicating this ‘wing-like’ structure, the power-to-weight ratio of the overall solar energy structure is increased 17-fold, making it vastly more efficient.
Professor Tapas Mallick, lead author of the research said that though biomimicry in engineering is not new, a research that shows pathways to develop low cost solar power is something that hasn’t been done before.
Researchers explain that the Cabbage White butterflies are the first to take flight before other butterflies on cloudy days and this hints at the fact that these butterflies have optimised the manner in which they can use the energy from the sun to heat their flight muscles.
It is believed that the butterflies’ ability to quickly heat up its muscles is due to the v-shaped posturing, known as reflectance basking, they adopt on cloudy days to maximise the concentration of solar energy onto their thorax, which allows for flight.
Beyond the posture, there are these specific sub-structures on their wings that allow the light from the sun to be reflected most efficiently thereby ensuring that the flight muscles are warmed to an optimal temperature as quickly as possible.
These capabilities of the Cabbage White motivated the team of scientists to investigated how to replicate the wings to develop a new, lightweight reflective material that could be used in solar energy production.
Researchers found that the optimal angle by which the butterfly should hold its wings to increase temperature to its body was around 17 degrees, which increased the temperature by 7.3 degrees Centigrade compared to when held flat.
Further, by replicating the simple mono-layer of scale cells found in the butterfly wings in solar energy producers, the power-to-weight rations of future solar concentrators could be vastly improved, making them significantly lighter and so more efficient.
Professor Richard ffrench-Constant, who conducts world-leading research into butterfly mimicry at the University of Exeter, said: “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.”
Findings of the study have been published in Scientific Reports.
