Eco Factor: Scientists create water repelling surfaces which are ideal for solar panels.
Recent efforts to create self-cleaning windows and solar panels have led scientists borrow technologies from natural systems including lotus leaves. Researchers at the University of Florida have come up with a similar technology that has been inspired from another of nature’s wonders – spiders.
These researchers reproduce the shape and patterns of the minute hair that grows on the bodies of spiders to create a water-phobic surface. Moreover, when water scampers off the surface, it picks up and carries dirt along with it, making the surface self-cleaning. The technology is ideal for food packaging, windows and solar cells that must be clean to harvest maximum possible solar energy.
Via: Gizmag