Swallowtail Butterfly Wings
The black scales of this butterfly’s wings
reflect virtually no sunlight, perhaps as an adaptation to help regulate the butterfly’s body temperature.
Why Engineers Want It
Like the moth eye, butterfly wings can improve sunlight absorption, and their relatively flat structure may make it even easier to apply the feature to solar cells.
State of the Tech
In 2009 a team of researchers from China and Japan created a titanium dioxide cast of the wing scales that improved the power output of solar cells by 10 percent. They hope to have a version ready for commercial use within five years.