Researchers have come up with a new way to generate electricity with solar panel technology by harvesting the energy produced by raindrops.

The method, proposed by a team from Tsinghua University in China, involves a device called a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that creates electrification from liquid-solid contact.

These are typically used to harvest energy from waves, as droplet-based TENGs (D-TENGs) have previously faced technical limitations that prevented them from working at any significant scale.

By using solar panel bridge arrays, the researchers discovered such barriers could be overcome

“Referring to the design of solar panels in which multiple solar power generation units are connected in parallel to supply the load, we are proposing a simple and effective method for raindrop harvesting,” said Professor Zong Li, who led the research.

“The peak power output of the bridge array generators is nearly five times higher than that of the conventional large-area raindrop energy harvesting. The results of this study will provide a feasible scheme for large-area raindrop energy harvesting.”

 

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Interesting concept.  I first thought it was going to be a peizo electric affect. 

That should make Thailand a hub of solar. When it's not sunny it's raining.

6 hours ago, blackcab said:

That should make Thailand a hub of solar. When it's not sunny it's raining.

You'd be surprised how much the panels produce when overcast, or even during a lite rain.  Also, no sun, not that hot, so ACs not running as much.