Global warming is a scary thing. The only comfort is in knowing that there are many scientists working on ways in which we can prevent it, or at least slow it down, and that there aren some little, yet significant changes being made. And example of this is the increase in use of solar paneling to conduct electricity. The only problems found with solar panels are that, being reflected, a lot of sunlight in fact is directed back toward the sky, rather than actually used efficiently for electric current. The other problem is that bird droppings and rain seem to keep the solar panels rather dirty. Well, as published in the International Journal of Nanomanufacturing, researchers have found some solutions.
First, a nanoscopic relief pattern can be added to the surface of photovoltai (solar) cells in order to make them non-reflected, therefore the amount of sunlight converted to electricity would increase. Second, scientists can use the lotus leaf as a model of a water repellant surface patter, making the plant hydrophobic. This can be applied to solar panels, making them somewhat self-cleaning, hoping that the bird droppings and rain will just slide off, like they do on the lotus leaf, rather than stick. I think it's great that solar panels exist and are in use, and even better that scientists are constantly looking for ways to make them even better and more marketable. In a perfect world, everything would be run by renewable energy sources like the sun, but increasing the efficiency of solar panels is certainly a step in the right direction!
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