On April 11th 2016, it was reported that a team of researchers in China had created a new solar panel that can not only make electricity from the sun, but can also make electricity from the falling rain. Scientists from the Yunnan Normal University and Ocean University of China wrote in journal Angewandte Chemie, that they had produced an all weather solar cell through the use of graphene.
The team, led by Qunwei Tang developed a dye-sensitive solar cell. They did this by coating the cells with a thin layer of graphene film. Graphene is a two dimensional form of carbon whose atoms are arranged into a honeycomb pattern. Graphene has unusual electronic properties that allow it to conduct electricity. It's rich in electrons that freely flow across its entire surface.
Graphene can bind positively charged ions with its own electrons. This characteristic inspired Qunwei Tang and his research team to use graphene electrodes to get power from the impact of raindrops. Raindrops contain salts that dissociate into positive and negative ions. Sodium, calcium, and ammonium ions are positively charged and can bind with the surface of the graphene.
When the raindrops and the graphene connect, the water becomes enriched in positive ions and the graphene becomes enriched with delocalized electrons. This produces what is known as a pseudocapcitator and results in the production of current and voltage. The new solar cells are capable of producing a solar conversion efficiency of 6.53% from sunlight and hundreds of micro-volts via stimulation by raindrops.
Tang and his team feel that this is a positive step and that, "All weather solar cells are promising in solving the energy crisis."
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