Solar Panels Can Now Generate Power In Winter With Energy From Falling Snow
We can¡¯t keep burning coal for power if we want to have a world we can still live in, so renewable energy becomes very important. Scientists at UCLA took another step in the right direction recently, with a generator powered by falling snow.
We can't keep burning coal for power if we want to have a world we can still live in, so renewable energy becomes very important.
Scientists at UCLA took another step in the right direction recently, with a generator powered by falling snow of all things.
Snow is positively charged when it falls, so the researchers rigged up what they call a snow-based triboelectric nanogenerator. This device consists of a negatively charged plate that captures the electrons and, when the two charges meet, static electricity is formed.
"After testing a large number of materials, including aluminum foils and Teflon, we found that silicone produces more charge than any other material," said co-author Maher El-Kady. Luckily for them, because of how easy and cheap it is to obtain silicone, that means the device is really cheap to build. The machine also serves as a weather station, able to give accurate readings on wind and rain.
The idea is that solar panels never work year-round. Aside from cloudy days, they're useless during the winter in countries where snowfall is common. However, this new device could integrated into solar panels so, even when they've covered in snow, they're generating power.
The team also envision their device as the future of self-powered wearables, ones you can power on and forget about.
