From the Harvard Business Review
The Business of Biomimicry - by Janine M. Benyus and Gunter A.M. Pauli
Biomimics draw inspiration for new product designs from biological processes, physical traits and behavioral strategies observed in nature. The classic example of biomimicry innovation is Velcro, whose inventor, George de Mestral,observed that the hooked tips of thistle seeds caused them to stick to the fur of his dog. Today we look ever more systematically to nature for sustainable solutions to a host of practical problems – for which existing solutions are often environmentally unfriendly or energy inefficient. We believe that now is an opportune time for global businesses to develop profitably around some of the ideas nature offers. One innovation – dyesensitized solar cells (DSSCs) – presents an intriguing example.
The Biological ModelTo create better solar cells, what was needed was something as self-reliant and elegantly capable as a leaf. Emulation of plant photosynthesis, inspired by the leaf of Hawaii's endangered Kokia cookei plant, led to the development of dye-sensitized solar cells, or DSSCs.
The DSSC AdvantageDSSC materials can collect light at shallow angles, capture dim as well as full sun, and work in scorching temperatures (all of which bedevil traditional photovoltaic solar cells). They can go where silicon panels can’t: on vertical surfaces such as windows, on structures in the shaded lower “canopy” of cities (street lamps, for example), in the sunless cores of buildings, and in desert or tropical locations. In the evolution of solar cells, they are the equivalent of aquatic life’s learning to live on land, opening a vast array of new habitats.
Expanding the Solar-Cell MarketAlthough DSSCs are currently less efficient than photovoltaic cells, they’re 60% cheaper to produce and more versatile—they can be made into flexible films or fibers in a process similar to ink-jet printing. Two companies—Konarka, of Lowell, Massachusetts, and Dyesol, of New South Wales, Australia—stand out for having pioneered advances in DSSC materials and manufacturing technologies that lower costs and improve performance.
One Promising SolutionInexpensive, nontoxic and flexible DSSC solar harvesters can work not only on roofs but also on curved surfaces. The fact they can accept low-angle light allows them to work in shade, or even on indoor surfaces. The implications for this breakthrough are profound. Millions of distributed harvesters could be networked on a neighborhood scale or used alone when power grids fail. Steelmakers are already testing ways of incorporating DSSCs into structural steel. Imagine the Golden Gate Bridge doubling as a power plant.
Assault on BatteriesAt present, DSSCs can’t claim to compete with the traditional grid. But as a power source for small appliances, toys, flashlights, and other devices, the technology is an economical alternative to batteries—which are 100 times as expensive per kilowatt hour as power from the grid and become highly polluting once discarded.
Dye-sensitized solar cells are one of many innovations drawn from nature currently in development. Hundreds more are being investigated. The promise of these innovations is the promise of biomimicry itself: to create profitable enterprises using environmentally sustainable practices and products.
Janine M. Benyus is president of the board of the Biomimicry Institute in Missoula, Montana, and the author of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature (William Morrow, 1997).
Gunter A.M. Pauli is the author of 17 books and the founding director of ZERI (Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives), a global network of science and business innovators.