Bugs inspire better solar cell coatings

Form microscopic pillars on a glass surface and you have a solar cell top layer that cuts glare and keeps itself clean.

The antireflective coatings are made by shaping a glass surface with closely packed microscopic spheres. The resulting microscopic pillar arrays mimic the antireflective surfaces of moth eyes and the hydrophobic surfaces of cicada wings.

Cutting glare and dirt on solar cells increases the amount of light they can convert to electricity.

Research paper:
Bioinspired Self-Cleaning Antireflection Coatings
Advanced Materials, published online August 27, 2008

Researchers' homepages:
The Jiang Group
Bin Jiang

Back to ERN September 8/15, 2008

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Bugs inspire better solar cell coatings

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