Biomimicry: Sea sponges and Solar cells

Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a relatively new discipline that studies nature, its ideas, its models, systems, processes and elements and then imitates or takes creative inspiration from them to solve human problems sustainably.

Here is a good example one such design. courtesy of the humble sea sponge, which could lead to a more efficient method of making solar cells. According to wikipedia,

The sponges or poriferans (from Latin porus “pore” and ferre “to bear”) are animals of the phylum Porifera (pronounced /pɒˈrɪfərə/). Their bodies consist of an outer thin layer of cells, the pinacoderm and an inner mass of cells and skeletal elements, the choanoderm. Sponges do not have nervous, digestive or circulatory systems. Instead most rely on maintaining a constant water flow through their bodies to obtain food and oxygen and to remove wastes, and the shapes of their bodies are adapted to maximize the efficiency of the water flow.

Currently solar cells are made under high temperature and low pressure, which requires a large amount of power. However, certain sea sponges are capable of forming silicon structures without these energy-intensive conditions. By mimicking this process, and replacing the silicon with zinc oxide, scientists have succeeded in creating primitive, but cheap solar cells.

Reducing the energy required to make solar cells will lower production and sale costs, and make them a viable option for more applications. It could also bring us nearer to a possible tipping point for solar power, where increased adoption and economies of scale cause a break into the mainstream. via treehugger.