Engineered biomimicry for harvesting solar energy: a bird's eye view.

All three methodologies of engineered biomimicry – bioinspiration, biomimetics, and bioreplication – are represented in current research on harvesting solar energy. Both processes and porous surfaces inspired by plants and certain marine animals, respectively, are being investigated for solar cells. Whereas dye-sensitized solar cells deploy artificial photosynthesis, bioinspired nanostructuring of materials in solar cells improves performance. Biomimetically textured coatings for solar cells have been shown to reduce optical reflectance and increase optical absorptance over a broad spectral regime. Compound lenses fabricated by a bioreplication technique offer similar promise for reduced reflectance by increasing the angular field of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]