The Oriental Wasp Inspires Solar Energy Designs

Jan. 14, 2011 - PRLog -- Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom –  Each year, science spends billions of dollars trying to perfect solar energy, hoping to get it more efficient that the current design. Now, scientists have announced that they are learning a very efficient way to harness solar power and keep the energy for a longer period of time. Their teacher? The Oriental Wasp.(http://www.waspcatcher.org)
Marian Plotkin, head of the research team studying the Oriental wasp or hornet has discovered that the body of the wasp is an extremely efficient system which harnesses solar power. It began when Prof. Jacob Ishay noticed that the Oriental wasp, unlike other wasps, seemed to increase its nest building abilities during the times of the day when the sun was at its brightest, almost like the sun made them work faster. After studying the wasps, the research team found that the yellow stripes on the wasp contain a pigment that turns light into electrical energy. What's more is that the light bounces down throughout the lower layers of the wasps body. This complex yet efficient system keeps the light bouncing between the cells, meaning energy is produced and lasts longer than it would have.
The wasps secret? It's outer shell is a natural photovoltaic (PV) cell. PV cells are what we currently use to harness solar power, but unlike the wasp, we need to attach it to a semiconductor, the most common one being silicon. The wasp, however, doesn't need the silicon because its body's yellow layers, made of a substance known as xanthopetrin, turns light into electrical energy. And since the layers are found throughout the body, as the light bounces through them, the wasp is able to effectively conduct energy throughout its body.
Plotkin's team, through the use of biomimicry (a field in biology that takes ideas from nature and tries to implement the system for the benefit of human living), decided to see if they could mimic the situation using xanthopetrin. Their experiment was successful, though the system they built was not efficient. They are not admitting defeat, though. Plotkin believes that creating a system as complicated as the wasps' would first take a while to perfect, and second be expensive. However, they do hope that what they've learned from the wasp's unique design will help inspire new solar designs that will make solar energy more effective.
Solar power is quite popular in society. Unlike other forms of green energy, it is the only one that can be installed on a small scale, yet be enough to power an entire home.