New Hope for Cloudy Rainy Days

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by MyronL

If using a touch-sensitive computer screen translates your finger touching it into an impulse of energy that results in a reaction within the computer, is it a stretch to find a way to make that technology, the energy from them raindrops pounding down, convertable from the solar panel surface into stored electricity in the battery?

Yes, it is an enormous stretch, because the touch of your finger on a screen does not generate energy; it is detected by a screen that takes power to run. In the common type, your finger affects the capacitance of the screen at that point, which is detected by a powered circuit. That doesn't mean a new technology won't work, it just means that touchscreens are not a starting point or an example of generating power in a panel.

[Brian B-P]

Technology certainly advances, although it is interesting how old the core principles are under almost any "new" advance that makes it to production. That does not mean that every new idea is workable and just needs development effort.

Originally Posted by FlatlandFlyFisher

So, this story comes from a paper in a reputable science journal, Angewandte Chemie ...

Thanks Stephen! Interesting analysis, nicely presented.

Originally Posted by FlatlandFlyFisher

The first and second laws of thermodynamics are much more patient than you are...

So true!

Originally Posted by FlatlandFlyFisher

I wonder what the dive depth is on a two-piece molded fibreglass submarine, and would this be affected by awning choice?

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

So if a pump, running off the battery, was hooked up to a tank of water and pumped water to an elevated reservoir, then allowed water to flow back out over the panel, thereby producing more energy, going to the battery do we have the solution to the Worlds energy needs?

Perpetual Motion Machine!.... so, no, that wouldn't work.