the solar panels that work come rain or shine: power cells made of graphene harvest energy from storms and the sun

Solar panels are often touted as solutions that we rely on fossil fuels, but because they rely on sustained sunlight, some countries are not able to make the most of the technology.
In the UK, solar panels are an unreliable way of producing renewable electricity that can rain for a few weeks at a time.
But now, a group of Chinese scientists have invented a new solar cell that may be ideal in wet weather because it can use both sunlight and rain to generate electricity.
Until the big question-
The problem of large-scale power storage has been solved, and most renewable energy sources will continue to be unreliable.
Solar panels only generate electricity when it\'s sunny, and wind turbines only generate electricity when it\'s windy. On a dull, non-
On windy days, we still have to rely on thermal power generation such as gas and coal to provide most of our electricity, which is bad news for the environment.
But researchers at Ocean University of China have invented a solar cell that can also work on rainy days when alternative solar panels will not be able to generate electricity.
In the most basic terms, the working principle of the traditional solar cell is that when photons from the sun hit the material, the electrons move.
This means that in rainy days, less electricity is generated when the sun is less.
This new type of solar cell is applied to a layer of graphene with only one atom thick in a layer of carbon.
Graphene is a well-known conductive material that allows electrons to move freely on its surface.
Rain water contains ammonium, calcium and sodium, and these elements become ions when in solution.
This means that when the rain is located at the top of the graphene layer, an unbalanced charge point is generated.
Electrons in graphene bind to positively charged ions in rain water, known as Lewis acid-
Basic interaction.
The movement of electrons is current. \'All-
The weather is expected to solve the energy crisis, the researchers said.
The new solar cells can be inspired by sunny light and rain drops.
The efficiency of the new solar cells is not enough to compete with the widely used solar cells today.
The cell efficiency of the researchers was 6.
Compared to the best solar cells with an efficiency of about 5%.
However, this is the first solar cell that can be produced both on rainy days and on sunny days, and researchers believe this will be the key to improving the diversity of renewable energy sources.
New concepts can guide advanced design
Weather solar cells, researchers say.
The study was published in the British Journal of Chemistry.