Power generation by rain

French scientists have developed a technique that can collect energy from raindrops and turn it into electricity. This technology may also be useful in industrial air conditioning systems, where water condenses and falls into drops like rain.

"Our calculations show that even in the most unfavorable conditions, the energy of raindrops is strong enough to run low-power devices, " said Romain Guigon, a French researcher and engineer. developed at CEA Leti-Minatec Research Institute in Grenoble.

Although the energy of raindrops is small compared to the sun, the team says that is not a problem. The new system can be used where it is difficult to exploit the sun or in combination with other technologies.

This method is based on a plastic called PVDF (polyvinylidene difluoride), used in many products such as water pipes, films. PVDF has strange piezoelectric properties, it can create an electrical charge when mechanically deformed.

Guigon and colleagues attached electrodes to a thin PVDF film, only 25 micrometers thick. Then they " bombed " the film with drops of water from 1 to 5 millimeters in diameter. When water particles touch the material, they create vibrations, producing electrical charge. The electrodes collect this charge to turn into electricity. Of course, the largest particles will create the strongest oscillation. The researchers found the system could generate 12 milliwatts from the largest particles and produce at least 1 microwatt of continuous electricity.

The researchers' next task is to determine the effectiveness of this type of energy when used for electrical equipment.

Laboratory to study the energy of raindrops.(Photo: inhabitat)