A new device creates electricity from a snowfall

This is the first device in the world to produce electricity from falling snow.

Engineers and chemists at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed the first energy recuperator on snow. At present, the amount of energy used is rather low and it is unlikely that the technology will be transformed to become a snow climate equivalent to that of solar panels. Nevertheless, researchers believe that it has real applications, such as helping weather stations during severe winter storms.

Described in the newspaper Nano Energythe device is simply a thin and flexible plastic sheet that functions as a triboelectric nanogenerator, a nanodevice energy recovery device that can exploit a charge from static electricity. The snow is positively charged and yields electrons, while the silicone is negatively charged and accepts the electrons. Thus, when the snow lands on the silicone, a load is produced and captured.

Think of it as if you are rubbing a balloon against your hair to exploit a small electric charge, but on a very small scale.

"The snow is already loaded, so we thought, why not bring another material with the opposite charge and extract the charge to create electricity?" Said co-author Maher El-Kady, researcher assistant in chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA. declaration.

"Static electricity results from the interaction of a material that captures the electrons and another that yields to them," added lead author Richard Kaner of the Department of Chemistry. and biochemistry of the California NanoSystems Institute of UCLA.

"You separate the charges and create electricity from nothing."

This effect can produce a power density of 0.2 million watts per square meter and an open circuit voltage of up to 8 volts. As a warning, it is a very small amount. You will need a number of panels, covering several meters, to light an LED.

So what is it for? The device can also capture very subtle movements and could even be integrated with portable electronic components to monitor the performance of an athlete during winter sports.

It seems that the most realistic use of this technology will be to integrate it into weather stations located in isolated snow-covered areas, as the device is also able to detect snowfall, wind direction and weather conditions. , while producing his own electricity.

"The device can operate in isolated areas because it provides its own power and does not need batteries," Kaner said.

"It's a very smart device – a weather station that can tell you how much snow is falling, the direction the snow is falling, and the direction and speed of the wind."