---
title: "Scientists Invent Device to Generate Electricity From Rain"
description: "A team of engineers built a kind of generator that gives off a powerful burst of energy whenever it's hit by falling rain."
date: "2020-02-10"
modified: "2020-02-10"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski.md"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/generate-electricity-rain"
categories:
  - "Energy"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "energy"
  - "renewable energy"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientists Invent Device to Generate Electricity From Rain

![A team of engineers built a kind of generator that gives off a powerful burst of energy whenever it's hit by falling rain.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/generate-electricity-rain.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Felix Mittermeier via Pixabay/Tag Hartman-Simkins\</em\>*

## Brief Jolt

A team of engineers has figured out how to take a single drop of rain and use it to generate a powerful flash of electricity.

The City University of Hong Kong researchers behind the device, which they're calling a droplet-based electricity generator (DEG), [say that a single rain droplet](<https://www.cityu.edu.hk/media/press-release/2020/02/06/cityu-new-droplet-based-electricity-generator-drop-water-lights-100-small-led-bulbs>) can briefly generate 140 volts. That was enough to briefly power 100 small lightbulbs and, while it's not yet practical enough for everyday use, it's a promising step toward a new form of renewable electricity.

## Forming Bridges

The DEG uses a "field-effect transistor-style structure," [*Engadget* reports](<https://www.engadget.com/2020/02/09/raindrop-electricity-generator/>), which can turn rainfall into short bursts of power.

The material the device is made from contains a quasi-permanent electrical charge, and the rain is merely what triggers the flow of energy, [according to research](<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-1985-6>) published last week in the journal *Nature*.

## Early Tests

The real trick will be finding a way to turn this technology into something that might be viable [for people's homes](<https://futurism.com/solar-panels-can-generate-electricity-using-rain.md>) — for now, it's not reliable enough to deliver a continuous supply of power, as it needs to charge up before it can let out another burst.

In the meantime, *Engadget* suggests, it could serve as a small, temporary power source on futuristic water bottles or umbrellas.

**READ MORE:** [Rain may soon be an effective source of renewable energy](<https://www.engadget.com/2020/02/09/raindrop-electricity-generator/>) \[*Engadget*\]

**More on energy:** *[These Solar Panels Can Generate Electricity Using Rain](<https://futurism.com/solar-panels-can-generate-electricity-using-rain.md>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)

## More

- [New Device Generates Electricity From Falling Snow](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/device-generates-electricity-falling-snow.md>)
- [This Solar Panel-Like Device Can Generate Electricity in the Dark](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/device-energy-dark-night.md>)
- [Clever Device Generates Electricity From Thin Air](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/generates-electricity-air.md>)
- [Electricity Generated From Renewables Surpassed Coal Power in Europe Last Year](<https://futurism.com/electricity-generated-renewables-surpassed-coal-power-europe-last-year.md>)
- [A Record-Breaking 29% of the U.K.’s Electricity Is Now Generated by Renewables](<https://futurism.com/a-record-breaking-29-of-the-u-k-s-electricity-is-now-generated-by-renewables.md>)
- [Floating “Blowhole” Platform Can Generate Energy From Just Waves](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/floating-blowhole-platform-energy-waves.md>)
- [We May Soon Charge Devices by Harnessing Electricity from Our Bloodstream](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/we-may-soon-charge-devices-by-harnessing-electricity-from-our-bloodstream.md>)
- [The Amount of Electricity Generated From Solar Is Suddenly Unbelievable](<https://futurism.com/electricity-generated-solar-power.md>)