In this paper we analyze the energy and power achievable by means of a recently proposed salinity gradient technique for energy production. The method, denominated soft electrode or SE, is based on the potential difference that can be generated between two porous electrodes coated with cationic and anionic polyelectrolytes. It is related to the Capacitive Donnan Potential (CDP) technique, where the electrical potential variations are mostly related to the Donnan potential, of ion-selective membranes in the case of CDP, and of the polyelectrolyte coating in SE. It is found that although SE is comparable to CDP in terms of energy production, it presents slower rates of voltage change, and lower achieved power. The separate analysis of the response of positively and negatively coated electrodes shows that the latter produces most of the voltage rise and also of the response delay. These results, together with electro-kinetic techniques, give an idea on how the two types of polyelectrolytes adsorb on the carbon surface and affect differently the diffusion layer. It is possible to suggest that the SE technique is a promising one, and it may overcome the drawbacks associated to the use of membranes in CDP. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.