US researchers have invented a nanogenerator that could one day be added to solar panels to keep them producing energy when covered in snow.

The team, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), designed the snow-powered tiny device to take advantage of the energy-producing potential of snow.

They call their invention a snow-based triboelectric nanogenerator, or snow TENG. It will generate energy by making use of static electricity, according to dezeen.com.

The snow TENG is made of silicone, a material that has a negative charge. Snow is positively charged, so when they come into contact, they exchange electrons and produce energy.

“Snow is already charged, so we thought, why not bring another material with the opposite charge and extract the charge to create electricity?” said chemistry and biochemisty researcher Maher El-Kady, a member of the team and a co-author on the report they have published in the journal Nano Energy.