A teenager's brilliant idea to make solar cells 50 percent more efficient

Aiden Dwyer, a Long Island 13-year-old has made brilliant idea to make solar cells 50 percent more efficient than traditional setting solar panels with the idea of spiral leaf pattern in conjunction with Fibonacci Sequence in the trees.

The initial steps he started from a study on the branches of an oak tree in the Catskill Mountains, northwest of New York City, has made him successfully won the 2011 Young Naturalist Award from the American Museum of Natural History. The success of young adolescent who wrote an essay with the title The Secret of the Fibonacci Sequence in Trees, explaining the steps which he did in researching the spiral pattern between the leaves using a homemade tool called cylindrical double-protractor to measure the spiral pattern on variety of tree species.

The research he did has concluded that Fibonacci Sequence on tree can make the leaves able to collect more sunlight. Dwyer apply it to the replica using PVC pipe to built an oak tree-shaped solar arrays. He also built a flat-solar panels at 45 degrees, just like a home rooftop solar panels.

The test showed the tree design generates 20 percent more electricity than traditional flat panel array. It's also collected two and a half more hours of sunlight during the day. Even in December,at lowest point of the sun, the tree design generates 50 percent more electricity, and 50 percent longer of sunlight collection time. Aiden Dwyer has already applied for a patent of his finding.