Nature’s way of solving the problem:A sunflower follows the sun’s movement via heliotropism, i.e. diurnal motion of plant parts (flowers or leaves) in response to the direction of the sun. The motion is performed by motor cells in a flexible segment just below the flower, called a pulvinus. The motor cells are specialized in pumping potassium ions into nearby tissues, changing their turgor pressure. The segment flexes because the motor cells at the shadow side elongate due to a turgor rise.

Idea proposed:Based on the same principle, a solar panel will be connected to a mechanical system that will follow the sun’s movement and thus help extract the maximum possible incident solar energy.The system consists of two limbs in which mercury (heavy liquid) and water (lighter liquid) are present. Here the water containing limb is connected to another cylindrical limb which has a greater cross sectional area. Therefore, by Pascal’s law, the pressure in the liquid is evenly distributed, and consequently, the force in this limb will be much more.

Problems faced:

Too much skilled manual labour