Emerging indoor photovoltaic technologies for sustainable internet of things
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Author(s)
Pecunia, Vincenzo
Occhipinti, Luigi
Hoye, Robert
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The Internet of Things (IoT) provides everyday objects and environments with “intelligence” and data connectivity to improve quality of life and the efficiency of a wide range of human activities. However, the ongoing exponential growth of the IoT device ecosystem—up to tens of billions of units to date—poses a challenge regarding how to power such devices. This Progress Report discusses how energy harvesting can address this challenge. It then discusses how indoor photovoltaics (IPV) constitutes an attractive energy harvesting solution, given its deployability, reliability, and power density. For IPV to provide an eco-friendly route to powering IoT devices, it is crucial that its underlying materials and fabrication processes are low-toxicity and not harmful to the environment over the product life cycle. A range of IPV technologies—both incumbent and emerging—developed to date is discussed, with an emphasis on their environmental sustainability. Finally, IPV based on emerging lead-free perovskite-inspired absorbers are examined, highlighting their status and prospects for low-cost, durable, and efficient energy harvesting that is not harmful to the end user and environment. By examining emerging avenues for eco-friendly IPV, timely insight is provided into promising directions toward IPV that can sustainably power the IoT revolution.
Date Issued
2021-08-05
Date Acceptance
2021-05-26
Citation
Advanced Energy Materials, 2021, 11 (29), pp.131-131
ISSN
1614-6832
Publisher
Wiley-VCH Verlag
Start Page
131
End Page
131
Journal / Book Title
Advanced Energy Materials
Volume
11
Issue
29
Copyright Statement
© 2021 The Authors. Advanced Energy Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Sponsor
Royal Academy of Engineering
Royal Academy Of Engineering
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Identifier
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aenm.202100698
Grant Number
RF\201718\17101
RF\201718\17101
EP/V014498/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Chemistry, Physical
Energy & Fuels
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Physics, Applied
Physics, Condensed Matter
Chemistry
Materials Science
Physics
energy harvesting
indoor photovoltaics
Internet of Things
lead-free perovskites
lead-halide perovskites
PEROVSKITE SOLAR-CELLS
LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT
DEFECT-TOLERANT SEMICONDUCTORS
OPEN-CIRCUIT VOLTAGE
LEAD-FREE
HALIDE PEROVSKITES
ENVIRONMENTAL PROFILE
ORGANIC PHOTOVOLTAICS
TRIBOELECTRIC NANOGENERATOR
THERMOELECTRIC-MATERIALS
0303 Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry
0912 Materials Engineering
0915 Interdisciplinary Engineering
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-06-16