Renewable energy is slowly but surely becoming the preferred method of generating electricity, especially with the government’s commitment to net-zero by 2050.

Renewable energy is classified as energy collected from renewable resources and are naturally replenished on a human timescale, like wind, geothermal heat, tides and sunlight. But now researchers have developed a new technology to transform one of the world’s most abundant resources into electricity: rain.

What the hail?

The concept of using water as a means of producing energy is not new, with hydropower coming to mind, and there have been many attempts to develop electricity from rain, including transforming the water on solar panels into usable energy, but this new method is probably the most efficient solution so far.

This new design, led by scientists from the City University of Hong Kong, uses a structure to produce a high voltage from rain water: one drop can produce 140V of electricity, enough to temporarily power up to 100 small LED bulbs. They also found that the device could handle continuous water droplets, much like rainfall, and the device gathers the charge to achieve a saturation point.

Don’t rain on my parade!

However, this is not yet a practical product and a lot of work needs to be done in order to generate continuous energy. Nonetheless, the potential for a system of this calibre is huge; generators can be installed anywhere where rain is likely to fall, such as rooftops, boats and even umbrellas!

For now though, we are on the right path for a more sustainable environment. Monarch are sustainability simplifiers, helping your business reduce your carbon footprint in the world. We provide free solar panel installations for commercial and residential properties with no upfront costs and lock in fixed rates that are cheaper than the big six suppliers. Find out more about our free solar panel installations here.