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Tapping into the water cycle and generating electricity from rainy days could be one way to grow our renewable energy use.
Until now， scientists have been unable to get water droplets to produce a significant amount of power—but they may finally have a breakthrough.
While scientists are still a long way from umbrellas that double up as generators， the latest approach shows there might be a way to get power from rain showers at a level of efficiency that makes these systems practical.
New research has found a method that could generate enough power from a single droplet of rain to light up 100 LED bulbs. That’s a big jump forward in efficiency， in the region of several thousand times.
“Our research shows that a drop of 100 microliters of water released from a height of 15 centimeters can generate a voltage of over 140V， and the power generated can light up 100 small LED lights，” says biomedical engineer Wang Zuankai from the City University of Hong Kong.
That sounds like a surprising amount of voltage， but the engineers used some ingenious tricks to make it happen.
Scientists have been looking into this type of power production for years， but the physics of converting the energy of raindrops into electricity are much harder to do than harvesting the energy from a rising tide or a flowing stream.
There’s plenty of work still to do to get this ready for practical use however， with the researchers hoping to have a prototype ready in the next five years.
利用水循环在雨天发电可以成为利用可再生能源的方法。
到目前为止，科学家还不能利用水滴大量发电，但他们可能终于有所突破了。
虽然科学家们还不能把雨伞变成发电机，但最新的方法表明，利用雨水发電可能是一种有效、可行的方法。
新的研究发现了一种方法，用1滴雨水发的电能点亮100个LED灯泡。效率大大提高了，是以前的几千倍。
香港城市大学生物医学工程师王钻开说：“我们的研究表明从15厘米高的地方滴下的100微升的水发电量超过140V，能点亮100个小的LED灯。”
这发电量听起来惊人，但工程师为此使用了一些巧妙的技巧。
科学家近些年一直在研究这种发电方法，但把雨滴的能量转化为电能的物理学难度比利用涨潮或流水发电高得多。
但要真正投入使用，还有大量工作要做，研究人员希望在未来五年能做出一个样品。
Word Study
generate /'d?en?re?t/ v. 产生;引起
We need someone to generate new ideas.
approach /?'pr??t?/ n. 方法;方式
n. & v. （时间或距离上）接近
We will be exploring different approaches to gathering information.
Winter is approaching.
release /r?'li?s/ n. & v. 释放
She felt the sudden sweet release of her own tears.
Until now， scientists have been unable to get water droplets to produce a significant amount of power—but they may finally have a breakthrough.
While scientists are still a long way from umbrellas that double up as generators， the latest approach shows there might be a way to get power from rain showers at a level of efficiency that makes these systems practical.
New research has found a method that could generate enough power from a single droplet of rain to light up 100 LED bulbs. That’s a big jump forward in efficiency， in the region of several thousand times.
“Our research shows that a drop of 100 microliters of water released from a height of 15 centimeters can generate a voltage of over 140V， and the power generated can light up 100 small LED lights，” says biomedical engineer Wang Zuankai from the City University of Hong Kong.
That sounds like a surprising amount of voltage， but the engineers used some ingenious tricks to make it happen.
Scientists have been looking into this type of power production for years， but the physics of converting the energy of raindrops into electricity are much harder to do than harvesting the energy from a rising tide or a flowing stream.
There’s plenty of work still to do to get this ready for practical use however， with the researchers hoping to have a prototype ready in the next five years.
利用水循环在雨天发电可以成为利用可再生能源的方法。
到目前为止，科学家还不能利用水滴大量发电，但他们可能终于有所突破了。
虽然科学家们还不能把雨伞变成发电机，但最新的方法表明，利用雨水发電可能是一种有效、可行的方法。
新的研究发现了一种方法，用1滴雨水发的电能点亮100个LED灯泡。效率大大提高了，是以前的几千倍。
香港城市大学生物医学工程师王钻开说：“我们的研究表明从15厘米高的地方滴下的100微升的水发电量超过140V，能点亮100个小的LED灯。”
这发电量听起来惊人，但工程师为此使用了一些巧妙的技巧。
科学家近些年一直在研究这种发电方法，但把雨滴的能量转化为电能的物理学难度比利用涨潮或流水发电高得多。
但要真正投入使用，还有大量工作要做，研究人员希望在未来五年能做出一个样品。
Word Study
generate /'d?en?re?t/ v. 产生;引起
We need someone to generate new ideas.
approach /?'pr??t?/ n. 方法;方式
n. & v. （时间或距离上）接近
We will be exploring different approaches to gathering information.
Winter is approaching.
release /r?'li?s/ n. & v. 释放
She felt the sudden sweet release of her own tears.