13-Year-Old Makes Solar Power Breakthrough by Harnessing the Fibonacci Sequence

This young boy is amazing. Sometimes, it takes the young ones to notice the genius that nature is providing us. He observed how the branches of the trees grow and he noticed that they branch in a specific way which led him to the Fibonacci sequence. Aidan found that even the trees branch according to Fibonacci sequence.

Biomimicry is not being given much attention but we may have to start paying attention into how things in nature were created in a particular way. Nature is providing us the blueprint of good designs and it is up to us if we can copy them.

While most 13-year-olds spend their free time playing video games or cruising Facebook, one 7th grader was trekking through the woods uncovering a mystery of science. After studying how trees branch in a very specific way, Aidan Dwyer created a solar cell tree that produces 20-50% more power than a uniform array of photovoltaic panels. His impressive results show that using a specific formula for distributing solar cells can drastically improve energy generation. The study earned Aidan a provisional U.S patent – it’s a rare find in the field of technology and a fantastic example of how biomimicry can drastically improve design.

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Damn son, why didn't I think of that. It seems to me like a normal flat design would be easier to maintain though.

reply to post by wavemaker


If you are an older person you think about how differently the world really is from your childhood notions and even what we are taught in schools added to all you have learned in your lifetime. Technology and science has leaped ahead. Just like any other species much of the knowledge we acquired is passed on to our children already complete. They do not have to relearn the whole thing we did. They pick up where we left off.
We should see more and more of this apparent genius in children.


Wish we took better care of all of them, but that's the social democrat in me I guess.
They are, as ever our best and only hope.
I will gladly share whatever little I have
so OUR children are guaranteed a good start in life.
That is in my best interests.
When you get that you become a social democrat too.

i bet a design based on a crocodile skin will give out even better results

they are born to bake and bite


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Maybe the tree can transform to be flat for maintenance and other reasons like weather etc.
A solar panel that has both capabilities of flat and tree like would be advantageous to certain scenarios.
Kinda like a flower opening and closing also.
Nature holds the secrets
S&F

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
Damn son, why didn't I think of that. It seems to me like a normal flat design would be easier to maintain though.

True. These trees look simple but they are actually a little complicated to make. But once you have made them, they are more effective and more efficient. Anyway, once a pattern of the tree is done, they can make thousands of solar trees in no time.

Again this just proves NATURE wins in design.

Nothing human nature about it, basic environmetnal nature, all he did was OBSERVE what has already been done.

Big pharma does this all the time.

reply to post by newcovenant


OK, I'll bite. What does political ideology have to do with solar arrays and the sometimes brilliant thinking of children?

But I do agree that it is how we raise our children, to be more observant, and to use their minds that are the key to the future.

Not all will be scientists and engineers, but we will always need plumbers, electricians and farmers.

reply to post by A por uvas

Kinda like a flower opening and closing also.

Good thinking. Better patent that idea before a 13 year old does.

What the boy copied was that of a tree with lots of branches. Maybe he can also try the designs of the coconut tree and the banana tree. Less branches but bigger leaves. For his design, bigger curving solar panels.

It makes sense. After all, all LEAVES are SOLAR PANALS anyway.

reply to post by TDawgRex


If we are humanity all its children are ours and our future. It has become a matter of policy the following is a very bad thing...

I will gladly share whatever little I have so OUR children are guaranteed a good start in life. That is in my best interests.

Many people think this constitutes charity and social services. I think it is common sense and investing in our mutual future.

Personal responsibility, individual liberty and less government are wonderful ideas, but like all successful concepts, they require nuance. To what extent does the poor son of a crackhead single mother who grew up without access to a good education have the personal responsibility to buy health care at exorbitant prices? Should he be expected to create a stable, happy life for himself while paying the same flat tax rate as Donald Trump? At what point should Trump's individual liberty be so obstructed as to afford the government a slightly larger fraction of his multi-billion dollar pie so it can be spent on health care and education for the less fortunate? At what point should the Constitutional rights of oil companies to destroy the environment be called into question, so as to protect our planet and our children from our wastefulness and stubborn refusal to evolve? www.huffingtonpost.com...

I've found myself thinking a lot about this. But I don't have the mathematical knowledge to find the formulas behind the processes of nature. You need a active, educated and observant mind.

This link is to a man that does something very similar but on a deep professional level:
www.seas.harvard.edu...

Looks like Aidan Dwyer did a lot of field work! Very impressive. I bet he enjoys it.

I wonder if this kid will go into this field? He's got a good start going. Why not? Looks like fun.

And...

This is just another example how powerful math is. It's a part of the code our universe uses.

I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but that kid's design is flawed. The reason the "tree" did better was because it has twice as many PV solar cells. Just look at this picture: aidan_large_08.jpg

The flat panel has 10 PV cells, and the Tree has 20.

The kid should get the Al Gore award for fake Science.

Good for the boy.

If only more children were interested in learning new things.

reply to post by Cryptonomicon


well i think the flat array had 10 on the other side. but youre right of course, and it is misleading because half of it never faced the sun.

also for solar, like everything, theres an optimal way to do something, and everything else is suboptimal.

the point of the tree i think was to build something that performed decently all the time from any direction without any adjustment.

on the other hand if you scaled that up for practical applications, it would be so big and expensive then you might as well build a flat array that tracks the sun. which would take up less space and produce more power.

Originally posted by Cryptonomicon
The flat panel has 10 PV cells, and the Tree has 20.

Can you just count them? I'm pretty sure that's not how it works.
Both models were designed to peak at 5V.
He could have used just one big panel with 5V output as the flat model, it doesn't matter, it would still be the same as 20 panels with a total output of 5V.

I used PV solar panels hooked up in series that produced up to 1/2 volt, so the peak output of the model was 5 volts. .

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This is more efficient than a flat array of solar panels, but less efficient than the current systems that track the sun.

A tree can't move, so it's leaves are spaced out to give it optimal solar generation over the course of the day. A solar array, however, can move and will always provide more energy than a static system if each solar panel is angled towards the sun at any given moment, for optimum efficiency.

This is a beautiful example of mind working to its fullest... without all the rules and guidelines drawn onto him by society, this awesome kid can see things for what they truly are. Given a fresh outlook, solar power took a huge leap forward!