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Renewable energy is increasingly being adopted due to environmental emergency issues. And among these energies, solar occupies an important place because of its accessibility. However, solar panels are only useful when sunlight is present; a rather rare situation at certain times of the year.

To supplement solar power during rainy weather, Chinese researchers have just developed a device that can produce electricity depending on the power of precipitation.

Rain-voltaic panels to exploit raindrops

Water is already an essential source of energy, but it was only exploitable via rivers. On the other hand, this new technology coming from China comes down to raindrops. Indeed, the new panels integrate sensors and mechanisms that can transform the vibrations produced by raindrops into electricity. Far from being a limited technology, these new panels also promise a yield of 200 Watts per square meter. This represents half the productivity per square meter for current solar panels.

Let us also remember that solar energy is older, so we can hope for a continual improvement in the performance of rain-receptive panels. In addition, it should be noted that the rain-voltaic panels will only be at their maximum when the intensity of the rain is high.

Soon mixed panels?

The discovery by researchers at Tsinghua University undeniably strengthens the race for renewable energies. In addition, it should be useful in certain places in the world where the rains are more frequent and abundant. As for the parts of the globe where the seasons are more or less balanced, photovoltaic and pluvio-voltaic could supplement each other.

For greater practicality, it is even possible to soon see the production of mixed panels making it possible to successively benefit from rain and sun for the electrical supply. However, this could take time to reach the market, as no marketing is currently planned for the new rain-voltaic panels.