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Wednesday
Nov042009

Energy from Raindrops

DateWednesday, November 4, 2009 at 11:42AM

A question was posed asking whether the energy of raindrops might be converted to electricity.  A study on this was done in Grenoble, France, with the use of a PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) polymer, which is a piezoelectric material that converts mechanical energy into electricity.  The vibration created by a raindrop impacting a PVFD membrane produces electrical charges, which are then captured by electrodes in the material.  Since the material used is a plastic, it could be used to cover the roof of a greenhouse.  According to the study, for continental climates in France, nearly 1 Wh of energy could be produced per square meter in one year.  Adjusted to the rainfall in Pullman, that would be slightly less (0.73 Wh).  Applied to the 600 sq. ft. greenhouse currently on the farm, that would mean an annual output of 40.84 Wh.  While this seems to be an insignificant number, it would be enough to power such devices as sensors. 

Piezoelectric materials could also be used along with small generators to store energy from appliances and tractors, which produce vibrational energy.

 

                                                                         Calculus sheet

 

For France - for Continental Climate (e.g. In Vaucluse) :

             Rainfall :  693.4  mm/year  =  27.3 in/year

             Energy per area :  1 Wh /m2

 

For Pullman,

             Rainfall :  20 in/year

  so,    Energy per area :  20*1/27.3= 0.7326 Wh/ m2

 

Our current greenhouse has an area of 600sf = 55.74 m2.

The rainfall in Pullman will allow us to obtain : 40.84 Wh/yr

 

For a greenhouse of :

    1 acre (= 4046.86 m2), we will produce : 2964.73 Wh/yr

    5 acres:  14823.65 Wh/yr.

 

If we use a 60W fluorescent light bulb (LB) - which is 23 incandescent watts :

The 600 sf greenhouse roof will power : almost 2 LB for 1 hr

1 acre: 128.9 LB for 1 hr

5 acre: 664.5 LB for 1 hr

 

While this does not seem like much, some sensors require a lot less energy to be powered.

If we use for instance the Hewlett Packard power sensor 8481B that requires 1 mW (=min. power range) to be powered :

For the 600 sf greenhouse roof we can power :  40.84/ (10^-3 * 24*365.25) = 4.66 sensors / yr.

For 1 acre: 2964.73/(10^-3 * 24*365.25) = 338.21 sensors / yr.

For 5 acres: 338.21* 5 =  1691 sensors /yr.

Christophe Parroco and Jennifer Johnston

AuthorJennifer Johnston Comment13 Comments |

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