Raindrop energy: Harnessing electricity from the weather

A generator that harvests the sound of pattering rain could produce enough electricity to power LED lights, but it’s unclear how practical it would be.

Zhang Yonghui of the Dalian University of Technology in China and his colleagues have developed a device they call a superhydrophobic magnetic generator (MSMEG). It’s essentially a soup-can-sized container with a coiled wire and a water-repellent film lid. When raindrops hit the film, it deforms instantaneously, moving the coil relative to the magnets inside the container…