Skip to main content

Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

3 comments

This New Solar Panel Generates Power Even When It Rains — Here’s How

Imagine a future where your electronic devices never stop working—whether the sun is shining brightly or rain is pouring from the sky. A new scientific breakthrough from Spain brings this vision much closer to reality. Researchers have developed a smart hybrid device that can generate electricity from both sunlight and raindrops at the same time, offering a powerful solution to one of the biggest challenges in renewable energy: reliability in changing weather.

This innovative technology comes from scientists at the Institute of Materials Science of Seville (ICMS), a joint research center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the University of Seville. Their work combines advanced solar cell materials with cutting-edge nanotechnology to harvest energy in a way that has never been done so efficiently before.

The Promise and Problem of Perovskite Solar Cells

Solar energy is one of the cleanest and most abundant energy sources available. Traditional solar panels, mostly made from silicon, dominate the market today. However, they can be expensive to manufacture and require energy-intensive processes.

This is where halide perovskite solar cells come in. Perovskites are synthetic materials with a special crystal structure that absorbs sunlight extremely well. They are cheaper to produce, lightweight, and highly efficient—qualities that make them strong candidates to replace or complement silicon solar cells in the future.

But there is a major problem. Perovskite solar cells are sensitive to environmental conditions. Moisture, humidity, heat, and temperature changes can degrade them quickly. Rain, ironically, is one of their biggest enemies. This instability has been a major barrier preventing perovskite technology from being widely used outdoors.

A Smart Protective Film with a Hidden Talent

To solve this problem, the ICMS research team turned to plasma technology. Using this technique, they created an ultra-thin protective coating—about 100 nanometers thick (thousands of times thinner than a human hair)—and deposited it on the surface of perovskite solar cells.

This thin film plays two important roles at the same time:

  1. Protection and performance improvement
    The coating acts as a shield that protects the perovskite layer from water, humidity, and harsh environmental conditions. At the same time, it improves the way light enters the solar cell, increasing its ability to absorb sunlight.

  2. Electricity generation from raindrops
    The surface of the film has triboelectric properties. The triboelectric effect is a simple physical phenomenon where electrical charges are generated when two materials come into contact or rub against each other—similar to static electricity. When a raindrop hits this surface, its kinetic energy is converted into electrical energy.

From a Single Raindrop to Over 100 Volts

The results are remarkable. According to the study published in the scientific journal Nano Energy, the device can generate up to 110 volts from the impact of a single raindrop. While the current is small, the voltage is more than enough to power low-energy electronics such as sensors or LED circuits.

This means that even during rainy or cloudy days—when normal solar panels lose efficiency—the system can continue producing electricity. The researchers demonstrated that the device can continuously power simple electronic components, proving its practical potential.

Built to Survive Extreme Conditions

Durability is one of the most impressive features of this hybrid system. The plasma-deposited coating has shown exceptional stability in harsh environments. Tests revealed that it can withstand:

  • Long-term exposure to water

  • High humidity and temperature cycles

  • Conditions that normally destroy perovskite solar cells

Thanks to this protection, the solar cells maintain their performance over time, making them suitable for real-world outdoor applications.

Why This Matters in a World Beyond Batteries

Modern society relies heavily on batteries, from smartphones and wearable devices to wireless sensors and smart infrastructure. However, batteries have serious limitations. They degrade over time, require replacement or recharging, and raise environmental concerns due to mining and disposal.

The new sun–rain hybrid device offers a path toward energy autonomy. By harvesting energy from the environment continuously, it reduces or even eliminates the need for batteries in many applications. This is especially valuable for devices placed in remote or hard-to-access locations.

As ICMS researcher Carmen López explains, this work proves that it is feasible to combine perovskite solar technology with triboelectric nanogenerators in a single thin-film system, creating a new class of multifunctional energy devices.

A Game Changer for the Internet of Things (IoT)

One of the most exciting impacts of this technology lies in the rapidly growing Internet of Things (IoT) sector. IoT devices often operate outdoors and require small but continuous power supplies. Examples include:

  • Environmental sensors for humidity, rain, and pollution

  • Structural health sensors for bridges and buildings

  • Weather monitoring stations

  • Precision agriculture systems

These devices are usually limited by battery life. A hybrid solar–rain energy harvester can keep them running for years without human intervention.

Smart Cities, Remote Areas, and Beyond

According to ICMS researcher Fernando Núñez, this technology is well suited for smart city applications. It could power:

  • Smart signage

  • Autonomous auxiliary lighting

  • Monitoring and surveillance systems

Because it works reliably in rain, humidity, and temperature fluctuations, it is ideal for urban outdoor environments.

The system also opens new possibilities for remote and isolated locations, such as marine monitoring stations, rural infrastructure, or disaster-prone areas where maintenance is difficult and power grids are unavailable.

Toward Hybrid “Rain Panels” of the Future

This research introduces a completely new concept: hybrid solar–rain panels, sometimes called “rain panels.” Instead of seeing rain as a problem for solar energy, this technology turns rain into an additional energy source.

The study highlights how plasma-deposited coatings can act as multifunctional solutions—protecting sensitive devices while enabling energy harvesting from multiple natural sources. This approach could inspire a new generation of robust, self-powered electronic systems designed specifically for outdoor use.

A Step Closer to Sustainable, Autonomous Energy

In a world facing climate change, energy demand, and environmental challenges, innovations like this represent more than just scientific progress. They offer practical solutions for cleaner, smarter, and more resilient technologies.

By combining sunlight and rain—two of nature’s most abundant resources—this breakthrough from Seville brings us closer to a future where energy is always available, no matter the weather.

Reference: Fernando Núñez-Gálvez et al, Water-resistant hybrid perovskite solar cell - drop triboelectric energy harvester, Nano Energy (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2025.111678

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular

Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

For years, scientists believed that adding even one qubit (a unit of quantum information) to a black hole needed energy. This was based on the idea that a black hole’s entropy must increase with more information, which means it must gain energy. But a new study by Jonah Kudler-Flam and Geoff Penington changes that thinking. They found that quantum information can be teleported into a black hole without adding energy or increasing entropy . This works through a process called black hole decoherence , where “soft” radiation — very low-energy signals — carry information into the black hole. In their method, the qubit enters the black hole while a new pair of entangled particles (like Hawking radiation) is created. This keeps the total information balanced, so there's no violation of the laws of physics. The energy cost only shows up when information is erased from the outside — these are called zerobits . According to Landauer’s principle, erasing information always needs energy. But ...
3 comments
Read more

Black Holes That Never Dies

Black holes are powerful objects in space with gravity so strong that nothing can escape them. In the 1970s, Stephen Hawking showed that black holes can slowly lose energy by giving off tiny particles. This process is called Hawking radiation . Over time, the black hole gets smaller and hotter, and in the end, it disappears completely. But new research by Menezes and his team shows something different. Using a theory called Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) , they studied black holes with quantum corrections. In their model, the black hole does not vanish completely. Instead, it stops shrinking when it reaches a very small size. This leftover is called a black hole remnant . They also studied something called grey-body factors , which affect how much energy escapes from a black hole. Their findings show that the black hole cools down and stops losing mass once it reaches a minimum mass . This new model removes the idea of a “singularity” at the center of the black hole and gives us a better ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How Planetary Movements Might Explain Sunspot Cycles and Solar Phenomena

Sunspots, dark patches on the Sun's surface, follow a cycle of increasing and decreasing activity every 11 years. For years, scientists have relied on the dynamo model to explain this cycle. According to this model, the Sun's magnetic field is generated by the movement of plasma and the Sun's rotation. However, this model does not fully explain why the sunspot cycle is sometimes unpredictable. Lauri Jetsu, a researcher, has proposed a new approach. Jetsu’s analysis, using a method called the Discrete Chi-square Method (DCM), suggests that planetary movements, especially those of Earth, Jupiter, and Mercury, play a key role in driving the sunspot cycle. His theory focuses on Flux Transfer Events (FTEs), where the magnetic fields of these planets interact with the Sun’s magnetic field. These interactions could create the sunspots and explain other solar phenomena like the Sun’s magnetic polarity reversing every 11 years. The Sun, our closest star, has been a subject of scient...
Post a Comment
Read more