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<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000"><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman">====================== <BR>Solar panels generate energy
when it rains <BR>====================== <BR>Solar power is making huge strides
as a reliable, renewable energy <BR>source, but there's still a lot of untapped
potential in terms of the <BR>efficiency of photovoltaic cells and what happens
at night and during <BR>inclement weather. Now a solution has been put forward
in the form of <BR>producing energy from raindrops. <BR> <BR>Because
raindrops are not made up of pure water, and contain various <BR>salts that
split up into positive and negative ions, a team from the <BR>Ocean University
of China in Qingdao thinks we can harness power via a <BR>simple chemical
reaction. Specifically, they want to use graphene sheets <BR>to separate the
positively charged ions in rain and in turn generate <BR>electricity.
<BR> <BR>Early tests, using slightly salty water to simulate rain, have
been <BR>promising: the researchers were able to generate hundreds of microvolts
<BR>and achieve a respectable 6.53% solar-to-electric conversion efficiency
<BR>from their customised solar panel. <BR> <BR>For the experiment,
the team used an inexpensive, thin-film solar cell <BR>called a dye-sensitised
solar cell. After adding a layer of graphene to <BR>the cell, it was put on a
transparent backing of indium tin oxide and <BR>plastic. The resulting
'all-weather' solar cell concept was then <BR>equipped to produce power from
both sunshine and the rain substitute. <BR> <BR>The team is now
working on adjusting the technology to handle the <BR>variety of ions found in
real raindrops and figuring how to generate <BR>enough electricity from the
typically low concentrations they come in. <BR><BR>Science Alert / Angewandte
Chemie - April 08, 2016 <BR> </FONT><A
style='href: "http://www.merit.unu.edu/itweekly/ref.php?nid=5641"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman">http://www.merit.unu.edu/itweekly/ref.php?nid=5641</FONT></A><FONT
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