The winters will only get worse, so the researchers invented a way to produce electricity from snow

The further you get from the equator, the less solar panels produce energy reliably all year round. And it's not just the shorter rays of sun during the winter months that are problematic; Even a light layer of snow can make solar panels ineffective. Due to global warming, winters will only get worse, but there is at least one plus point: UCLA researchers have found a way to capture the electricity from all this snow.

The technology they developed called the snow-based triboelectric nanogenerator (or snow TENG, abbreviated) that generates energy from the electron exchange. If you have ever received an unpleasant shock when you touched a metal doorknob, you have already experienced the science at work here. When it falls to Earth, the snowflakes are positively charged and ready to yield electrons. In a sense, the energy is almost free, so after testing countless materials with an opposite charge, UCLA researchers (in collaboration with collaborators from the University of Toronto, McMaster University, and University of Connecticut) have discovered that the negative charge of silicone makes it more efficient for collecting electrons when it has come into contact with snowflakes.

The details about the device that they created were shared in an article published in the Nano Energy Journal, but it can be printed in 3D at a lower cost, given the accessibility of the silicone. For five dollars, you can buy an aerosol from the hardware store. a lubricant. In addition to silicone, a non-metallic electrode is used, making the triboelectric generator flexible, extensible and extremely durable.

Its creators believe that it could be integrated into solar panel panels so that it can continue to generate energy when it is covered with snow in the winter. But the triboelectric generator also has other potential uses. It does not require batteries or refills and could be used to create inexpensive, self-contained weather stations capable of reporting snow conditions and accumulated quantity. This could also improve the activity monitoring used by athletes practicing winter sports, allowing them to track and record individual ski movements, which would provide valuable information for the athletes who are going to ski. Coach to perfect their form.

[UCLA via EurekAlert!]