Rain Power

Capturing the kinetic energy of raindrops to generate power. A new technology, with interesting prospects for remote sensor technologies.

clipped from www.treehugger.com The Power of Rain: Alternative Energy Chaillout and his colleagues realized that every time a drop impacts on a surface it is an opportunity missed. Each raindrop has an impact energy that is highly dependent on the size of the drop; from a small drizzle drop that has 2 microjoules on impact, to a downpour size drop that carries 1 millijoule of impact energy. What can you do with this tiny power plant? The authors suggest that this type of device might work quite well for sensors, especially if the sensor is detecting rain, or in a rainy environment. Imagine a weather sensor that would only send a signal of how hard it is raining, when it is in fact raining. Or how about sensors that will automatically close your house windows when a storm suddenly appears? clipped from environment.newscientist.com Pitter-patter of raindrops could power devices

Related:
Rain as power - What Jamie Found
The Power of Rain: Alternative Energy : TreeHugger
Pitter-patter of raindrops could power devices - earth - 24 January 2008 - New Scientist Environment
Rain Power: Harvesting Energy from the Sky
Raindrops a new power source | The Courier-Mail
Channel 4 - News - Power generated from raindrops
Harvesting energy from falling raindrops | Green Tech blog - CNET News.com