The well-tuned geometry of the florets on the face of the sunflower brain has inspired an improved layout for mirrors utilised to concentrate sunshine and generate electricity, according to young research.
The sunflower-inspired layout could reduce the footprint of concentrating solar powerfulness (CSP) plants by nigh 20 percent, which could be a boon for a technology that’s limited, in part, by its massive land requirements.
CSP floras use arrays of giant mirrors, each the size of half a tennis court, to beam the sun’s rays up to heat a tube of fluid in the summit of a tower. This hot fluid drives steam turbines that generate electricity.
In the traditional layout, the mirrors are arranged in rows of circles that ripple away from the key tower. Some, such as the Spain’s Gemsolar power-generating array, take up 185 acres. That plant, when consummate in 2013, will supply power for virtually 25,000 homes.
