She is just 15, and she has already built a smart device that turns raindrops into electricity. Reyhan Jamalova, a ninth-grade student at the Istek Lyceum in Baku, Azerbaijan, came up with Rainergy after her father posed a question: if energy can be drawn from the wind, why not from rainwater?
Rain is one of nature’s last untapped energy sources. A single downpour can drop billions of liters of water, carrying enormous electrical potential when put to the right use. Rainergy, in Jamalova’s words, was built to generate electricity from rain and ease the energy shortage in low-income, rainy countries – all under the motto “Lighting one home at a time.”
Working alongside her friend Zahra Gasimzade and with support from their physics teachers, Jamalova spent four months on the calculations and design of a device to harvest energy from rainwater, as part of the ClimateLaunchpad program run by the Social Innovation Lab. The Azerbaijani state covered the initial assembly costs of 34,100 Azerbaijani manat (USD 20,000). Since then, Rainergy has drawn interest from other investors, notably in India.
The nine-meter installation is made up of four main parts: a rainwater collector, a reservoir, an electricity generator and a battery. The collector fills the reservoir with rainwater, which is then driven at high speed through the generator to produce energy. That energy is stored in the battery and can take some of the load off the local grid, giving communities an extra source of electricity. The team built two prototypes: one lights three LED lamps, while the other generates enough power to light 22 LED lamps for up to 50 seconds using only seven liters of rainwater. According to Jamalova, low-income communities could use Rainergy to power street lights, among other things.
Among Rainergy’s rivals in renewable energy are solar panels, wind turbines and piezoelectricity, which is produced by mechanical action on certain solids. Most of these alternatives call for significant investment, labor and the involvement of energy or electrical specialists to assemble and run, whereas Rainergy’s design is comparatively simple. “This model is much more efficient compared to similar systems,” Jamalova explains, noting that piezoelectric rain generators put out just 25 microwatts of power. Energy drawn from rain emits 10 g of CO2 per kWh of electricity generated, which she describes as very little next to alternative energy solutions.
Another advantage is that Rainergy stores its energy in a battery, so it remains effective even when no rain is falling. A patent application has already been filed for the device, and it has passed the first stage of the process successfully.
Rainergy was first shown at the ClimateLaunchpad competition, where it won the “Audience favorite startup” award in the national final. It then reached a global stage at the Global Summit of Entrepreneurship in India in November 2017. Although its creators first conceived the device for the regions of Azerbaijan with the most rainfall, the aim is to take it to the international market – all the more so since, as Jamalova points out, Azerbaijan is not a rainy country. In places such as the Philippines, India, Malaysia and Indonesia, where monsoon rains are frequent, the device could be an ideal way to cut dependence on power lines and improve access to electricity. According to the 2014 Global Tracking Framework report, 21 percent of India’s population and 11 percent of the Philippines’ lack access to electricity. Jamalova hopes to build a business around the device in the years ahead. For now, the invention has carried its young creator onto the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list 2018 – making her the first Azerbaijani ever to feature on it.
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