Researchers at China’s Tsinghua University claim to have developed a new way of generating electricity by harnessing the energy produced by raindrops that accumulate on solar panels.

The proposed method involves a device called a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that creates electrification from liquid-solid contact.

The team said that TENG is typically used to harvest electricity from waves.

It noted that while droplet-based TENGs (D-TENGs) have previously faced technical limitations that prevented them from working at any significant scale, yet this barrier can be overcome by using the technique in coordination with solar panels.

“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,” research lead professor Zong Li told the Independent. “The peak power output of the bridge array generators is nearly five times higher than that of the conventional large-area raindrop energy harvesting.” he continued.

He continued: “The results of this study will provide a feasible scheme for large-area raindrop energy harvesting.”

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