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

Fritz, Benjamin; Horváth, Gábor; Hünig, Ruben; Pereszlényi, Ádám; Egri, Ádám; Guttmann, Markus; Schneider, Marc; Lemmer, Uli; Kriska, György; Gomard, Guillaume

Fritz, Benjamin; Horváth, Gábor; Hünig, Ruben; Pereszlényi, Ádám; Egri, Ádám; Guttmann, Markus; Schneider, Marc; Lemmer, Uli; Kriska, György; Gomard, Guillaume.

Afiliación

Fritz B; Light Technology Institute (LTI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany.
Horváth G; Environmental Optics Laboratory, Department of Biological Physics, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Hünig R; Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), Stuttgart, Germany.
Pereszlényi Á; Environmental Optics Laboratory, Department of Biological Physics, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Egri Á; MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Danube Research Institute, Budapest, Hungary.
Guttmann M; MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Evolutionary Systems Research Group, Tihany, Hungary.
Schneider M; Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.
Lemmer U; Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.
Kriska G; Light Technology Institute (LTI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany.
Gomard G; Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.

PLoS One ; 15(12): e0243296, 2020.

Article en En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33270747

RESUMEN

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 of the present study is therefore to experimentally and computationally assess the influence of the cover layer topography on polarized light pollution. By conducting field experiments with polarotactic horseflies (Diptera: Tabanidae) and a mayfly species (Ephemeroptera: Ephemera danica), we demonstrate that bioreplicated cover layers (here obtained by directly copying the surface microtexture of rose petals) were almost unattractive to these species, which is indicative of reduced polarized light pollution. Relative to a planar cover layer, we find that, for the examined aquatic species, the bioreplicated texture can greatly reduce the numbers of landings. This observation is further analyzed and explained by means of imaging polarimetry and ray-tracing simulations. The results pave the way to novel photovoltaic cover layers, the interface of which can be designed to improve sunlight conversion efficiency while minimizing their detrimental influence on the ecology and conservation of polarotactic aquatic insects.

Asunto(s)

Dípteros; Ephemeroptera; Vidrio; Animales; Luz Solar

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Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Base de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Dípteros / Ephemeroptera / Vidrio Límite: Animals Idioma: En Revista: PLoS One Asunto de la revista: CIENCIA / MEDICINA Año: 2020 Tipo del documento: Article País de afiliación: Alemania Pais de publicación: Estados Unidos

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