If previously the solar panels seems to be useless things when the rain fall, now the Chinese scientists managed to create solar panels capable of converting rain into electric power, but to remain can absorb the solar energy.
"The all weather solar cells is promising in overcoming the energy crisis," wrote the scientists from the Ocean University of China and Yunnan Normal University which noted that this technology combines the graphene electrode electron enriched with dye-sensitized solar cells.
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| People walk past the solar panels at a wind and solar energy storage and transmission power station of State Grid Corporation of China, in Zhangjiakou of Hebei province, China. (Picture from: FoxNews) |
They added, that the new solar cells can continue to work well on a sunny day, and when it rains. The dye-sensitized solar cells are thin-film photovoltaic cells that utilize an organic dye to absorb sunlight, and generates electrons, thereby creating energy.
"We want to make solar cells that can generate electricity both to sunny and rainy days," explained Professor Qunwei Tang, the lead author of Ocean University of China. "We believe that the all-weather solar cells will be used for a family in the future."
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| Scientists in China created "all-weather" graphene-coated solar panels to harness power from raindrops. In order to produce electricity from rain, they coated a solar cell with a whisper-thin film of graphene. (Picture from: FoxNews) |
The Science News Journal noted that by applying a thin layer of highly conductive graphene, a solar cell can effectively harness the power of the rain.
"The salt contained in the rain is separated into ions (ammonium, calcium and sodium), making graphene and the water is naturally a great combination to create energy," the report said. "Water is completely attached to the graphene, forming a double layer (AKA pseudocapacitor) with graphene electrons. The energy difference between the layers is so powerful that generate electricity."
"During the rainy expansion in the graphene surface, delocalized electrons can be dragged by cations [positively charged ions], charging pseudocapacitance," said Tang, told FoxNews. Tang added that research on the all-weather solar cells is still in its early stages because when it rains real cation concentration is still lower than the rain water during the simulation.
China is one of the world's major solar panel manufacturers and is expected to significantly increase its own use of this technology in the coming years. In an effort to reduce carbon emissions, this country wants to increase up to three times the capacity of as much as 143 gigawatts of solar power by 2020. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | FOXNEWS ]
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