A Hybridized Power Panel to Simultaneously Generate Electricity from Sunlight, Raindrops, and Wind around the Clock

Abstract

With the solar panels quickly spreading across the rooftops worldwide, solar power is now very popular. However, the output of the solar cell panels is highly dependent on weather conditions, making it rather unstable. Here, a hybridized power panel that can simultaneously generate power from sunlight, raindrop, and wind is proposed and demonstrated, when any or all of them are available in ambient environment. Without compromising the output performance and conversion effi ciency of the solar cell itself, the presented hybrid cell can deliver an average output of 86 mW m −2 from the water drops at a dripping rate of 13.6 mL s −1 , and an average output of 8 mW m −2 from wind at a speed of 2.7 m s −1 , which is an innovative energy compensation to the common solar cells, especially in rainy seasons or at night. Given the compelling features, such as cost-effectiveness and a greatly expanded working time, the reported hybrid cell renders an innovative way to realize multiple kinds of energy harvesting and as an useful compensation to the currently widely used solar cells. The demonstrated concept here will possibly be adopted in a variety of circumstances and change the traditional way of solar energy harvesting.

All-in-one energy harvesting and storage devices

“…135 Aer this architecture was proposed, various hybrid energy harvesters were suggested and demonstrated using acoustic waves and pressure for the piezoelectric effect, which were based on PVDF TENG-based multi-type energy harvesters have also received great attention because of their high output power and easy hybridization with other energy harvesters. [139][140][141][142][143][144] In 2013, Yang et al demonstrated a hybrid energy harvester based on the triboelectric effect and the PV effect for the rst time. Micropyramid Si solar cells were fabricated with a protective layer consisting of a thin lm of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) nanowires, which not only worked as a protective layer, but also as a triboelectric layer for harvesting mechanical energy ( Fig.…”

Cascade-type hybrid energy cells for driving wireless sensors

“…[10,11] Various CHECs have been proposed for harvesting vibration, solar, thermal and chemical energies. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] For example, functioning CHECs made of intrinsic ZnO nanowires (NWs) and organic polymer blends have been reported to harvest strain and solar energies. [10][11][12][13][14][15] Semiconductor NWs exhibit unique features for energy harvesting applications, such as enhanced surface area, high mechanical flexibility, high sensitivity to small forces, better charge collection, enhanced solar energy absorption through light trapping, and amenability to function as a template for other structures.…”

Multifunctional TENG for Blue Energy Scavenging and Self‐Powered Wind‐Speed Sensor

“…[1] Recently, a new type of the electricity nanogenerators has been invented that can be implemented to collect most types of energy such as mechanical energy, [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] wind energy, [9][10][11][12] water energy, [13][14][15][16][17] especially at the lower frequencies (i.e., below 5 Hz). Even though the sun affects all ocean activities, tides are primarily driven by the gravitational pull of the moon and water waves are primarily driven by the winds.…”