A Hybridized Power Panel to Simultaneously Generate Electricity from Sunlight, Raindrops, and Wind around the Clock

With the solar panels quickly spreading across the rooftops worldwide, solar power is now very popular. However, the output of the solar cell panels is highly dependent on weather conditions, making it rather unstable. Here, a hybridized power panel that can simultaneously generate power from sunlight, raindrop, and wind is proposed and demonstrated, when any or all of them are available in ambient environment. Without compromising the output performance and conversion efficiency of the solar cell itself, the presented hybrid cell can deliver an average output of 86 mW m(-2) from the water drops at a dripping rate of 13.6 mL s(-1), and an average output of 8 mW m(-2) from wind at a speed of 2.7 m s(-1), which is an innovative energy compensation to the common solar cells, especially in rainy seasons or at night. Given the compelling features, such as cost-effectiveness and a greatly expanded working time, the reported hybrid cell renders an innovative way to realize multiple kinds of energy harvesting and as an useful compensation to the currently widely used solar cells. The demonstrated concept here will possibly be adopted in a variety of circumstances and change the traditional way of solar energy harvesting.