NSF Convergence Accelerator Track M: Bio-Inspired Surface Design for High Performance Mechanical Tracking Solar Collection Skins in Architecture

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

Buildings account for 40% of carbon emissions, contributing to one of our most burdensome societal challenges: architecture in the context of environmental crises. Generating solar power on buildings is a convergent problem in engineering and architecture. By integrating creative bio-inspiration with photovoltaic (PV) systems in the early phases of design, this project will inspire widespread integration of sustainability, technology, and design for national impact together with the researchers’ industry partner, E Ink. The team will incorporate a bio-inspired design research process that will address two primary convergent problems with building integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs): 1. Single axis sun tracking with planar silicon systems can generate as much as 10-40% more energy depending on geographic location, but there is more site preparation needed, and more maintenance required than conventional systems. 2. Lack of large-scale public adoption of solar panels in the residential sector is primarily due to poor design quality and aesthetics. The researchers hypothesize that beauty and sustainable design are an essential part of nature, and it has been demonstrated that solar tracking produces a photosynthetic advantage in the plant suggesting that it will be similarly beneficial for photovoltaic systems. Learning from nature, the researchers will employ a radical transdisciplinary approach to sustainability through the hybridization of labs and design studios to fuse innovations in research and industry to generate solar collection skins that leverage both aesthetics and performance. The researchers’ methodology will create a significant opportunity to excite the public, thereby engaging their interest in STEM. The intellectual merit of the project will innovate the design and engineering of PV cells through advancements in design, kirigami geometry, 3D printing, and roll-to-roll manufacturing for bio-inspired filters and skin assemblies. Specifically, the researchers will develop three bio-inspired design methods based on fundamental operations of photosynthesis in plants’ heliotropism (orientation), light scattering (filters), and cellular morphological responses (modulate shape) to varied radiant exposure. Next, the team will test, extend, and optimize the bio-inspired toolkit with kirigami geometry to develop a family of module shapes that can change and morph into any global surface design, but are tailored to track the changing path of the sun. Blending biological adaptations, including cellular morphogenesis in the Arabidopsis plant and heliotropic mechanisms in sunflowers with kirigami methods, the team will investigate non-conventional surface configurations of panels. The third aim focuses on the convergence of the bio-inspired surface design strategies with the silicon material response to light and energy at the photovoltaic cell and skin levels to design and engineer for specific functions. Through a unique partnership with E Ink, the project will develop highly customized, non-standard filters and PV panel surfaces to create site-specific, beautiful, mechanical tracking solar collection skins for architecture. By leveraging the resiliency and performance of nature’s tool kit and the team’s cross-sector expertise, the project deliverable will demonstrate the first adaptable solar collection system, demonstrating the potential of bio-inspired design for a new BIPV skin that showcases an integrated approach to light absorption for energy generation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.