A droplet friction/solar-thermal hybrid power generation device for energy harvesting in both rainy and sunny weathers

Abstract

Photovoltaic device is highly dependent on the weather, which is completely ineffective on rainy days. Therefore, it is very significant to design an all-weather power generation system that can utilize a variety of natural energy. This work develops a water droplet friction power generation (WDFG)/solar-thermal power generation (STG) hybrid system. The WDFG consists of two metal electrodes and a candle soot/polymer composite film, which also can be regarded as a capacitor. Thus, the capacitor coupled power generation (C-WDFG) device can achieve a sustainable and stable direct-current (DC) output under continuous dripping without external conversion circuits. A single device can produce an open-circuit voltage of ca.0.52 V and a short-circuit current of ca.0.06 mA, which can be further scaled up through series or parallel connection to drive commercial electronics. Moreover, we demonstrate that the C-WDFG is highly compatible with the thermoelectric device. The excellent photothermal performance of soot/polymer composite film can efficiently convert solar into heat, which is then converted to electricity by the thermoelectric device. Therefore, this C-WDFG/STG hybrid system can work in both rainy and sunny days.

Study and fabrication of rain triboelectric nanogenerator based on laser-induced graphene interdigital electrode

“…The thinner protective PDMS layer could achieve a higher output voltage of R-TENG. 31) To achieve both a higher output voltage and effective protective insulation, the thickness of the PDMS layer was designed to be 150 μm. The PDMS agents A and B were mixed at a ratio of 10:1 and spin-coated on the top of 03SP27-2 © 2024 The Japan Society of Applied Physics the LIG interdigital electrode at a rotational speed of 400 rpm for 100 s. The substrate containing the PDMS and LIG was placed under a vacuum in a desiccator to remove the air.…”