Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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I think this would be a great thing to not do.

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plastic sunflowers

sunflowers made of photovoltaic plastic that track the sun
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there are plastic photocells that collect electricity from the sun. perheps enough to power their own movement to face the sun. make such a plastic into a sunflower that powers itself and looks nice through the day as if it were a real sunflower and always facing the sun.
zevkirsh, Feb 06 2009

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       i've been looking for a tracking mechanism for my solar panel [magnetic solar panel], does this plastic exist, and what is it called. can it detect the direction of the sun through clouds?
codrakon, Aug 19 2009
  

       Maybe a clever arrangement of a plastic formula that shrinks and expands when in the thermal effect of light.
wjt, Aug 19 2009
  

       A bimetal would work, like in a thermostat. As it bends away from the heat source (sun), it closes the appropriate circuit in a radius that then transmits electricity to move the sunflower (or solar collector) to a corresponding position that makes it face the sun. You could also use a sundial with photosensitive circuit closers arranged in an arc.
flounder, Aug 23 2009
  

       You could use a heliotropic flower to track the sun, and slave all the plastic flowers to it.
ldischler, Aug 23 2009
  

       Why not try breeding a heliotropic flower strong enough to hold a solar panel? And capable of doing it most of the year?   

       Hmmm . . . .
Bad Jim, Aug 23 2009
  
      
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