Bioreplicated coatings for photovoltaic solar panels nearly eliminate light pollution that harms polarotactic insects.

ABSTRACT: Many insect species rely on the polarization properties of object-reflected light for vital tasks like water or host detection. Unfortunately, typical glass-encapsulated photovoltaic modules, which are expected to cover increasingly large surfaces in the coming years, inadvertently attract various species of water-seeking aquatic insects by the horizontally polarized light they reflect. Such polarized light pollution can be extremely harmful to the entomofauna if polarotactic aquatic insects are trapped by this attractive light signal and perish before reproduction, or if they lay their eggs in unsuitable locations. Textured photovoltaic cover layers are usually engineered to maximize sunlight-harvesting, without taking into consideration their impact on polarized light pollution. The goal

SUBMITTER: Fritz B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7714120 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature