Solar Cell Turns Raindrops Into EnergySolar Cell Turns Raindrops Into Energy

Solar panels are an easy choice to harvest renewable energy in places with abundant sunshine, but places with significant precipitation have not been as quick to adopt this method of energy generation, as panels typically generate 10% to 25% less energy on cloudy days than on sunny days.

That could soon change thanks to the design by Chinese scientists of solar panels that can harvest energy not only from sunlight but also from raindrops. The research by three scientists in Qingdao, China -- outlined in a paper entitled, “A Solar Cell That is Triggered by Sun and Rain” in the journal Angewandte Chemie, which has been posted online by the The Register -- describes how a layer of graphene on top of the surface of the panel can turn compounds found in rainwater into energy.

“All-weather solar cells are promising in solving the energy crisis, researchers wrote in the paper's abstract. “A flexible solar cell is presented that is triggered by combining an electron-enriched graphene electrode with a dye-sensitized solar cell. The new solar cell can be excited by incident light on sunny days and raindrops on rainy days.”

Chinese engineers have developed a solar panel that can harvest energy not only from the sun but also from raindrops. Researchers in Qingdao, China, achieved this by adding a layer of graphene over a dye-sensitized solar cell to react with compounds in rainwater to produce an electrical charge.
(Source: Skyway Electric and Solar)