Aidan Dwyer is just 13 years of age, but has been able to use the Fibonacci Sequence to increase the efficiency of solar panels yielding 50 percent more with his new design than a standard flat solar panel.

Aidan had a eureka moment while hiking in the Catskills and was intrigued by the patterns tree branches produce. After a more in-depth look he discovered that the branches of the trees were created using the Fibonacci sequence 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, …**

Using this information he constructed his own tree like stand using the Fibonacci Sequence and affixed it with small solar panels. He then compared his creation or rather natures, to traditional flat solar panels and discovered a 50% increase in efficiency. Fantastic job!

Aidan explains

"I knew that branches and leaves collected sunlight for photosynthesis, so my next experiments investigated if the Fibonacci pattern helped.” - "The tree design takes up less room than flat-panel arrays and works in spots that don’t have a full southern view. It collects more sunlight in winter. Shade and bad weather like snow don’t hurt it because the panels are not flat. It even looks nicer because it looks like a tree. A design like this may work better in urban areas where space and direct sunlight can be hard to find.”

Aidan now has a provisional U.S. patent for his Fibonacci sequence solar panel stand design and has generated interest from "entities” apparently eager to explore developing and manufacturing his design.

** The Fibonacci sequence is created by added the previous two number together.

Source:  Earth Teaching : Ubergizmo

Image Credit : American Museum of Natural History