Solar panels that can generate electricity even on rainy days

Generally speaking, solar panels are only suitable for use in sunny natural environments, and are not easy to use in cloudy or rainy days; some batteries (such as Tesla’s "firewall" batteries) can store electricity to It can be used in rainy days or at night, but for some areas with insufficient light, this technology is of little value in terms of efficiency and cost. The new solar panels developed by Soochow University can better solve this problem. According to reports, they used a new technology called "tribological nanogenerator (TENG)" in the solar panels they manufactured to capture the energy generated when raindrops fall.

Nano generator is a device that can convert mechanical energy into usable electricity. It can use rainfall to achieve this goal on a very small scale. This solar panel using TENG technology is still very light and can be installed on the roof. Researchers insert a barrier made of different transparent plastic or polymer materials between TENG and solar cells. Since the structures of several layers are connected, but each can operate independently, the solar panels can generate electricity under different weather conditions. At present, the bottleneck affecting the promotion and application of this new technology is the high production cost of the product. If it can be resolved, even in areas that are considered unsuitable for collecting solar energy due to insufficient light, solar energy can be made an efficient and clean new energy source. Expert analysis believes that despite the constraints of weather conditions, solar energy is still one of the fastest-growing energy sources in the world. At present, the cost of installing commercial solar panels has dropped by 58%. It is estimated that by 2040, renewable energy power generation will account for 40% of global power generation. Therefore, the development prospects of this new technology are very promising.