Optimising photovoltaic modules for indoor energy-harvesting systems
By harvesting low-intensity ambient light, indoor photovoltaics (PVs) could soon power countless internet-of-things (IoT) devices and sensors. However, indoor illumination conditions vary from room to room and even hour to hour, leading to inconsistent PV power generation. To overcome this, energy-h...
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | JPhys Energy |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7655/ade38b |
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| author | Austin M Kay Shimra N Ahmed Nicholas Burridge Drew B Riley Ardalan Armin Oskar J Sandberg Zaid Haymoor Matthew J Carnie Paul Meredith Gregory Burwell |
| author_facet | Austin M Kay Shimra N Ahmed Nicholas Burridge Drew B Riley Ardalan Armin Oskar J Sandberg Zaid Haymoor Matthew J Carnie Paul Meredith Gregory Burwell |
| author_sort | Austin M Kay |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | By harvesting low-intensity ambient light, indoor photovoltaics (PVs) could soon power countless internet-of-things (IoT) devices and sensors. However, indoor illumination conditions vary from room to room and even hour to hour, leading to inconsistent PV power generation. To overcome this, energy-harvesting circuitry can be used alongside indoor PV modules to recharge batteries or capacitors, forming energy-harvesting systems that enable consistent discharge into IoT devices. The optimisation of such systems is a topic of intense research. In this work, we use thermodynamic principles to model power generation in indoor PV modules based on inorganic, perovskite, and organic semiconductors, before evaluating the efficiency of the whole energy-harvesting system. In these investigations, we account for detailed device physics, including sub-gap absorption, band-filling effects, point defects, and parasitic resistances, while also considering performance under several different light sources. Ultimately, we find that the maximum power point voltage ( ${V_{{\text{mpp}}}}$ ) is pivotal in determining the optimal number of cells for an indoor PV module. Despite some PV materials having a lower ${V_{{\text{mpp}}}}$ due to narrower bandgaps or increased voltage losses, we find that this can be compensated for by increasing the number of cells; though too many cells can actually lead to inefficient energy harvesting. As a final case study, we evaluate the power generated and stored in a typical day (where an interplay between daylight and artificial light is present) to determine how stored energy translates to measurements made with an IoT device. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-912ca3d1a0bc48eea2824480a36e441d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2515-7655 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JPhys Energy |
| spelling | doaj-art-912ca3d1a0bc48eea2824480a36e441d2025-08-20T03:27:25ZengIOP PublishingJPhys Energy2515-76552025-01-017303501910.1088/2515-7655/ade38bOptimising photovoltaic modules for indoor energy-harvesting systemsAustin M Kay0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9126-5340Shimra N Ahmed1https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9985-3246Nicholas Burridge2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9570-5748Drew B Riley3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6688-0694Ardalan Armin4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6129-5354Oskar J Sandberg5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3778-8746Zaid Haymoor6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6606-307XMatthew J Carnie7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4232-1967Paul Meredith8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9049-7414Gregory Burwell9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2534-9626Sustainable Advanced Materials (Sêr-SAM), Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM), Department of Physics, Swansea University Bay Campus , Swansea, SA1 8EN, United KingdomSustainable Advanced Materials (Sêr-SAM), Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM), Department of Physics, Swansea University Bay Campus , Swansea, SA1 8EN, United KingdomSustainable Advanced Materials (Sêr-SAM), Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM), Department of Physics, Swansea University Bay Campus , Swansea, SA1 8EN, United KingdomSustainable Advanced Materials (Sêr-SAM), Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM), Department of Physics, Swansea University Bay Campus , Swansea, SA1 8EN, United KingdomSustainable Advanced Materials (Sêr-SAM), Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM), Department of Physics, Swansea University Bay Campus , Swansea, SA1 8EN, United KingdomPhysics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University , 20500 Turku, FinlandDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University Bay Campus , Swansea SA1 8EN, United KingdomDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University Bay Campus , Swansea SA1 8EN, United KingdomSustainable Advanced Materials (Sêr-SAM), Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM), Department of Physics, Swansea University Bay Campus , Swansea, SA1 8EN, United KingdomSustainable Advanced Materials (Sêr-SAM), Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM), Department of Physics, Swansea University Bay Campus , Swansea, SA1 8EN, United KingdomBy harvesting low-intensity ambient light, indoor photovoltaics (PVs) could soon power countless internet-of-things (IoT) devices and sensors. However, indoor illumination conditions vary from room to room and even hour to hour, leading to inconsistent PV power generation. To overcome this, energy-harvesting circuitry can be used alongside indoor PV modules to recharge batteries or capacitors, forming energy-harvesting systems that enable consistent discharge into IoT devices. The optimisation of such systems is a topic of intense research. In this work, we use thermodynamic principles to model power generation in indoor PV modules based on inorganic, perovskite, and organic semiconductors, before evaluating the efficiency of the whole energy-harvesting system. In these investigations, we account for detailed device physics, including sub-gap absorption, band-filling effects, point defects, and parasitic resistances, while also considering performance under several different light sources. Ultimately, we find that the maximum power point voltage ( ${V_{{\text{mpp}}}}$ ) is pivotal in determining the optimal number of cells for an indoor PV module. Despite some PV materials having a lower ${V_{{\text{mpp}}}}$ due to narrower bandgaps or increased voltage losses, we find that this can be compensated for by increasing the number of cells; though too many cells can actually lead to inefficient energy harvesting. As a final case study, we evaluate the power generated and stored in a typical day (where an interplay between daylight and artificial light is present) to determine how stored energy translates to measurements made with an IoT device.https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7655/ade38bindoor photovoltaicsphotovoltaic modulesenergy-harvestingsystem efficiencyorganic photovoltaicsperovskite photovoltaics |
| spellingShingle | Austin M Kay Shimra N Ahmed Nicholas Burridge Drew B Riley Ardalan Armin Oskar J Sandberg Zaid Haymoor Matthew J Carnie Paul Meredith Gregory Burwell Optimising photovoltaic modules for indoor energy-harvesting systems JPhys Energy indoor photovoltaics photovoltaic modules energy-harvesting system efficiency organic photovoltaics perovskite photovoltaics |
| title | Optimising photovoltaic modules for indoor energy-harvesting systems |
| title_full | Optimising photovoltaic modules for indoor energy-harvesting systems |
| title_fullStr | Optimising photovoltaic modules for indoor energy-harvesting systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Optimising photovoltaic modules for indoor energy-harvesting systems |
| title_short | Optimising photovoltaic modules for indoor energy-harvesting systems |
| title_sort | optimising photovoltaic modules for indoor energy harvesting systems |
| topic | indoor photovoltaics photovoltaic modules energy-harvesting system efficiency organic photovoltaics perovskite photovoltaics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7655/ade38b |
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