Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun

treehugger.com 16 Aug '12, 3pm

Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin Madison have developed a new solar power system that is inspired by the sun-catching behavior of sunflowers and is at least 10 percent more efficient than conventional solar panels. The inspiring behavior is an adaptation called heliotropism -- the tracking of the sun throughout the day by sunflowers and other plants by slowly rotating and positioning each leaf to grab the most sunlight. There are many other solar power systems out there that use GPS and motors to reposition the solar panels throughout the day, but this new system is different because it uses cutting-edge materials to take a more passive approach to catching sunlight. The engineers used a fairly new material called liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) that contracts when exposed to heat. Coupled with carbon nanotubes that are able to absorb a wide range of light wav...

Full article: http://www.treehugger.com/solar-technology/sunflower-insp...

Tweets

@treehuggeruk » 21 Aug '12, 7pm
RT @OmarOHelmy: Sunflower-Inspired #Solar #Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun : TreeHugger [link] #Green #Energy
@treehuggeruk » 20 Aug '12, 9pm
RT @Lucirmas: Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@Arx4Guerillas » 20 Aug '12, 6pm
Passive Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun via @TreeHugger [link]
@greenosaur » 20 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link] #green #cleantech #solar #energy #bio
@VocalWitness » 19 Aug '12, 8pm
@RepowerAmerica Awesome! "Nature-inspired technology: Solar power that follows the sun [link]"
@Hot_Snow » 19 Aug '12, 8pm
RT @RepowerAmerica: Nature-inspired technology: Solar power that follows the sun [link]
@RepowerAmerica » 19 Aug '12, 8pm
Nature-inspired technology: Solar power that follows the sun [link]
@GreenChoiceSol » 19 Aug '12, 4am
Can't think of better inspiration -sunflower-inspired #Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun @TreeHugger [link]
@SoensoSolar » 18 Aug '12, 10pm
Interesting. [link]
@coolmomorg » 18 Aug '12, 4pm
How cool is this? Solar panels that are able to follow the sun's path like sunflowers do. By doing so, they... [link]
@MHBoys » 18 Aug '12, 2pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link] #solar #energy #green
@ramonrubio74 » 18 Aug '12, 9am
#bioneros #ecodesign #biomimicry Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology [link]
@EarthActivists » 18 Aug '12, 7am
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link] ¬ @CyG_NewsAgent
@enviroart » 17 Aug '12, 7pm
#environment #solar Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the ... [link]
@MountainLionX » 17 Aug '12, 4pm
RT @oben02: Sunflower Inspired #Solar Power #Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link]
@stef_palmer » 17 Aug '12, 1pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Tech Effortlessly Follows the Sun : #heliotropism #biomimicry #genius [link] via @TreeHugger
@stovedude » 17 Aug '12, 9am
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the ...: The technology uses new cutting-edge mat... [link]
@Gnarum » 17 Aug '12, 8am
Solar power technology inspired in sunflowers!! [link] #solar #renewables
@GreenCDC » 17 Aug '12, 7am
Sunflower-Inspired <b>Solar Power</b> Technology Effortlessly Follows the <… [link] #Solar #Renewable
@damienplawson » 17 Aug '12, 12am
RT @DanJCass: More efficient #solar design, based on sunflowers [link]
@DanJCass » 17 Aug '12, 12am
More efficient #solar design, based on sunflowers [link]
@fulkra » 16 Aug '12, 11pm
Smarter #solar. That's something we'd like to see. [link]
@Just_B_Peaceful » 16 Aug '12, 10pm
RT @KQEDscience: Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link] @TreeHugger
@ASUEnergyClub » 16 Aug '12, 7pm
Sunflower-Inspired #Solar #Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun | Tree Hugger [link] Great job, @UWMadison!
@KifScheuer » 16 Aug '12, 7pm
Another fantastic idea I want to see come.to.market. [link]
@britmic » 16 Aug '12, 6pm
"Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun" [link] or will do if it ever sees the light of day
@adventurecare » 16 Aug '12, 6pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun #eco #travel [link]
@Aris2chat » 16 Aug '12, 5pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@GroenWerkt » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
#trhug Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun #mlfeeds: The technology uses new... [link]
@econewsbits » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
New post: Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link]
@HairyTheHobbit » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
TREEHUGGER: Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun: The technology uses new cut... [link]
@SolarPowerNL » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun: The technology uses new cu... [link] (Treehugger)
@EcoEfficient » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun: The technology uses new cutting-edge ma... [link]
@one24_freedom » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun: The technology uses ne... [link] #reallycoolstuff
@MB_EcoNetwork » 16 Aug '12, 6pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@oben02 » 16 Aug '12, 6pm
Sunflower Inspired #Solar Power #Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link]
@SoluxeSolutions » 16 Aug '12, 4pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun : TreeHugger - [link]
@Healthguy5796 » 16 Aug '12, 4pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun: The technology uses new cutting-edge ma... [link]
@keepingitraw » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link]
@inZania » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link]
@sonuise » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun: The technology uses new cutting-edge ma... [link]
@SiennaSigil » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link]
@LennJohnston » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link]
@LennonReturns » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link]
@aonuise » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link]
@OborrowIt » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
[link] - Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link]
@BobLalonde1 » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link]
@preserveland » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link]
@TreeHugrSciTech » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun: The technology uses new cutting-edge ma... [link]
@TorontoEco » 16 Aug '12, 3pm
Sunflower-Inspired Solar Power Technology Effortlessly Follows the Sun [link]