"A new piece of solar technology from IBM not only provides electricity – it can desalinate water for sanitation and drinking. [...] IBM and Airlight Energy’s 30ft concrete ‘sunflower’ was inspired by the branched blood supply of the human body."
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Biomimicry
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The improvements to solar energy technology have been impressive, such as going from the conventional and bulky first generation solar cells/modules to the flexible second generation thin-film solar cells/modules. Accompanying this has been a significant reduction in the cost of manufacturing solar cells and modules, with an average price of roughly US$1 per Watt for first-generation and second-generation modules.
With further technological breakthroughs expected in the next few years, the future is rosy for the solar industry. However, instead of patiently waiting for this next wave of advancements, academics have devised ways to further tweak solar energy technology and these tweaks are based on observations in nature. 
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"Concentrated solar power plants could get an efficiency boost inspired by flowers, according to MIT researchers. Designing solar mirrors in a spiral pattern similar to sunflower heads could reduce the space required for CSP plants and increase the amount of sunlight the mirrors collect."
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In the quest to draw power from the sun, nothing is more motivated than plants and insects.
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Researchers from UW-Madison created a passive system which mimics heliotropism in order to maximize the output of solar power generation systems.
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