As impressive as this all sounds, the team notes that significant challenges remain before the technology can be scaled. For example, the nanotube structural elements were shown to degrade in performance over multiple tracking cycles.
This degradation also dramatically impacted the light tracking response time. The team also points out that wind and water currents would likely significantly impact real-world applications, substantially reducing their motion and efficiency.
That being said, the core innovation demonstrates how mimicking nature’s solutions can overcome persistent technical barriers. This interesting development helps advance artificial photosynthesis by addressing the fundamental problem of angular dependence in solar energy capture.