What If a Solar Panel Could Make Power From Both Sun and Rain?

New research published in the journal Nano Energy details a breakthrough in energy harvesting technology that could turn solar panels into all-weather generators suitable for use worldwide.

The idea of generating electricity from rainfall isn't all that new. So-called "rain panels" have seen significant development over the years, though the space they take and the cost-to-generative capacity ratio have always been a bit off. But what if you could have a rain panel built right into a panel that you already needed to install, anyway?

This team sought to add a nanolayer to existing perovskite solar cell technology, achieving three goals. First, it protects the perovskite in the cell from chemical interactions with the environment, which is particularly important given the delicate nature of perovskite lifetimes. Additionally, it increases the cell's light absorption for traditional solar generation.

Finally, the nanolayer harvests energy from the kinetic impacts of rain ...