To address the second question, no, the cone structures of Mantis shrimp have no applicability to solar panels. Their cones enable them to more easily differentiate between specific wavelengths, but solar panels have no use for that information.
If a wavelength is too short, it will pass through the solar cell entirely, and if it is too long, it will not have enough energy to excite the electrons in the silicon material responsible for capturing photons, resulting in little to no energy.
This effectively means there is a range of wavelengths that are useful for solar panels (with the most effective being in the yellow-red range)- enabling them to “see” more colors wouldn’t accomplish anything.
Pircay t1_iye16r2 wrote
Reply to comment by Millennial_Glacier in Do people with tetrachromacy or colorblindness experience seasonal affective disorder at the same rate and intensity as people with trichromacy? by Millennial_Glacier
To address the second question, no, the cone structures of Mantis shrimp have no applicability to solar panels. Their cones enable them to more easily differentiate between specific wavelengths, but solar panels have no use for that information.
If a wavelength is too short, it will pass through the solar cell entirely, and if it is too long, it will not have enough energy to excite the electrons in the silicon material responsible for capturing photons, resulting in little to no energy.
This effectively means there is a range of wavelengths that are useful for solar panels (with the most effective being in the yellow-red range)- enabling them to “see” more colors wouldn’t accomplish anything.