Preliminary theoretical study about a "Piezoelectric Shingle" for a piezoelectric energy harvesting system in presence of rain

The present work is focused on the proposal of the idea of a "Piezoelectric Shingle" as a new energy harvesting system, based on meteorological precipitations as the rain. It is presented a preliminary analysis about the state of art of energy harvesting systems, based on piezoelectric technology, showing potentiality, limits and other experiences in the field of interest. Besides the paper treats about the main features of rainy phenomena, interesting for an energy harvesting system, reconsidering some theoretical/empirical models. Models are addressed to define the limit velocity of raindrops and a distribution law between dimension of raindrops and the nature of rainfall. After considerations about the annual quantity of water, fallen in a region, the authors propose the ideation of some key patterns for a piezoelectric energy harvesting system from rainy precipitations. Each scheme is analyzed and evaluated for the selection of only one conceptual idea