Superior resistance to draughty climate qualifies pokeberries – a weed found in every continent except Antarctica – as an appropriate component for future, fiber-based solar cells. Recent researches by the Wake Forest University’s Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials’ scientists show that the red dye made from the wild weed will sure bring down the manufacturing cost of solar cells. Moreover, the dye helps the cell’s fibers to trap more sunlight, which means better energy efficiency, i.e. two times more than the existing ones.
European Patent Office has just recently granted a patent to the University for their fiber-based photovoltaic cells. The lightweight, flexible cells with a wider surface area would trap light from dusk until dawn when they come into existence. These cells will fusrther be sprayed with the pokeberry dye.