At MIT, researchers are developing a way to make a more efficient solar plant — by mimicking a sunflower.
The team is working alongside researchers at RWTH Aachen University in Germany to develop a concentrated solar plant that's capable of producing more solar power while using less land. The design arranges the sun-gathering mirrors of the solar plant in a way that resembles the spirals found on a sunflower.
Researchers say this new design could reduce the size of a solar plant by 20 percent while still increasing its energy output. Since concentrated solar plants are necessarily very large, this reduction is very welcome.
"Concentrated solar thermal energy needs huge areas," researcher Alexander Mitsos told MIT News. "If we're talking about going to 100 percent or even 10 percent renewables, we will need huge areas, so we better use them efficiently."
The team is currently seeking patent protection for the sunflower design.
Image courtesy metin.gul