時差N小時:樹葉與太陽能板 Leaves Inspire Better Solar Panels

What do leaves and solar panels have in common?

樹葉和太陽能板有哪些共同之處呢?

Both absorb sunlight and turn it into energy.

它們都能吸收陽光并將之轉(zhuǎn)換成能量。

But while solar panels typically have smoothsurfaces,leaves have tiny wrinkles and folds thatallow for maximum light absorption.

但是太陽能板的表面一般較為平整，而葉子表面有細小的紋理和褶皺，這些紋理和褶皺使樹葉能夠最大限度地吸收陽光。

Recently, scientists took a cue from nature andengineered plastic solar panels with leaf likesurfaces.

最近，科學家們受到大自然的啟發(fā)，設(shè)計出一種與樹葉表面結(jié)構(gòu)類似的塑料太陽能板。

Most flat surfaced solar panels absorb some light and turn about eighteen percent of itintoelectricity.

大多數(shù)表面平整的太陽能板在吸收陽光后僅能將其中的18%轉(zhuǎn)化為電能。

Panels with ridged surfaces can absorb more light by channeling light waves,therebysignificantly increasing their efficiency at converting light into electricity.

而有脊狀表面的太陽能板可以通過引導光波來吸收更多的陽光，因此大大提高了光能轉(zhuǎn)化為電能的效率。

Besides making panels more efficient, ridged and wrinkled surfaces could allow solar panels tobemade out of bendable plastic instead of silicon.

這種脊狀、褶皺的表面不僅提高了太陽能板的效率，同時也使得可彎曲的塑料能夠代替原本用于制作太陽能板的硅。

Silicon is naturally better at absorbing light thanplastic, but it's also more expensive and morebrittle.

硅從本質(zhì)上來說吸收光的性能要比塑料好，但是其成本昂貴同時也易碎。

Flexible plastic is cheaper and more durablebut typically not as good at absorbing light.

柔韌的塑料相比之下更為便宜也更為耐用，但一般來講吸收光的性能還是不太好。

But with leaf like surfaces, solar panels made frombendable plastic may be able to absorblight just as effectively, if not more so, than regularpanels.

但是有了這種葉狀表面，用可彎曲的塑料制成的太陽能板能夠像普通太陽能板一樣吸收陽光，甚至要比普通太陽能板的效果還要好。

Another benefit of the wrinkled surface technique is that it's especially useful forincreasingabsorption at the red end of the light spectrum, which has the longest wavelengths.

褶皺表面的另一個好處就是它在顯著提高太陽能板吸收光譜中波長最長的紅光端的效率。

Conventional solar panels typically absorb very little of red and infrared light.

傳統(tǒng)的太陽能板只能吸收少量紅光和紅外線。

But the foldingtechnique increased absorption of this light by nearly 600 percent.

但是這種褶皺的表面可以使吸收紅光的效率提高近6倍。

Plastic, leaf like solar panels are not yet ready for widespread use.

塑料、葉狀的太陽能板目前還沒有被廣泛使用。

But they could one day helprevolutionize the solar industry by allowing for thin, flexible panelsused on windows, clothing, andmost flat surfaces.

但是它們終有一天會掀起一場太陽能產(chǎn)業(yè)的變革，因為這種薄而柔韌的太陽能板可以應(yīng)用到窗戶、衣服和多數(shù)的平整表面上。