Ultra-Low-Power Indoor Light Harvesting and Solar Cell Characterization System

In this study, we present a development of a solar-powered Internet-of-Things (IoT) device, that incorporates both light energy harvesting and solar cell monitoring, which we demonstrate by long term monitoring of a single perovskite solar cell in office-like indoor environment. Using off-the-shelf...

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Main Authors: Darjo Ursic, Matija Pirc, Marko Jost, Marko Topic, Marko Jankovec
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2024-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10745483/
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author Darjo Ursic
Matija Pirc
Marko Jost
Marko Topic
Marko Jankovec
author_facet Darjo Ursic
Matija Pirc
Marko Jost
Marko Topic
Marko Jankovec
author_sort Darjo Ursic
collection DOAJ
description In this study, we present a development of a solar-powered Internet-of-Things (IoT) device, that incorporates both light energy harvesting and solar cell monitoring, which we demonstrate by long term monitoring of a single perovskite solar cell in office-like indoor environment. Using off-the-shelf components we engineered a compact, self-sufficient IoT device, with a remarkable 75% efficient energy harvesting (EH) method, at input currents in a range of microamperes. The IoT device acquires environmental data (irradiance, temperature, humidity) and solar cell electrical parameters including its IV curve, which it sends over a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) connection to a nearby access point. A single lab-scale perovskite solar cell was used to evaluate the device in a real-world office setting, over a period of one year. Our findings demonstrate that employing a perovskite solar cell with a 1 cm2 active area and a 1 F supercapacitor as a charge storage, meets the energy demands for the continuous operation of the developed IoT device at low irradiance conditions. Additionally, irradiance sensor data in combination with the full IV curve measurements of the solar cell are used to monitor the available energy and appropriately react to the environment and solar cell changes, while maintaining an extremely low average power consumption of 6 uW. At the same time, the acquired data provide a valuable information about the solar cell’s electrical behaviour, which makes the developed system an easy to use and versatile long-term monitoring device.
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issn 2169-3536
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spelling doaj-art-91bbcf5565d3461b8146d53fb23327672025-08-20T02:32:44ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362024-01-011216944216945110.1109/ACCESS.2024.349231910745483Ultra-Low-Power Indoor Light Harvesting and Solar Cell Characterization SystemDarjo Ursic0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4852-3006Matija Pirc1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3459-6685Marko Jost2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2754-1467Marko Topic3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8089-2974Marko Jankovec4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9554-7284Laboratory of Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, SloveniaLaboratory of Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, SloveniaLaboratory of Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, SloveniaLaboratory of Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, SloveniaLaboratory of Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, SloveniaIn this study, we present a development of a solar-powered Internet-of-Things (IoT) device, that incorporates both light energy harvesting and solar cell monitoring, which we demonstrate by long term monitoring of a single perovskite solar cell in office-like indoor environment. Using off-the-shelf components we engineered a compact, self-sufficient IoT device, with a remarkable 75% efficient energy harvesting (EH) method, at input currents in a range of microamperes. The IoT device acquires environmental data (irradiance, temperature, humidity) and solar cell electrical parameters including its IV curve, which it sends over a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) connection to a nearby access point. A single lab-scale perovskite solar cell was used to evaluate the device in a real-world office setting, over a period of one year. Our findings demonstrate that employing a perovskite solar cell with a 1 cm2 active area and a 1 F supercapacitor as a charge storage, meets the energy demands for the continuous operation of the developed IoT device at low irradiance conditions. Additionally, irradiance sensor data in combination with the full IV curve measurements of the solar cell are used to monitor the available energy and appropriately react to the environment and solar cell changes, while maintaining an extremely low average power consumption of 6 uW. At the same time, the acquired data provide a valuable information about the solar cell’s electrical behaviour, which makes the developed system an easy to use and versatile long-term monitoring device.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10745483/Data consolidationenergy harvestingenergy storageindoor photovoltaicsperovskite solar cells
spellingShingle Darjo Ursic
Matija Pirc
Marko Jost
Marko Topic
Marko Jankovec
Ultra-Low-Power Indoor Light Harvesting and Solar Cell Characterization System
IEEE Access
Data consolidation
energy harvesting
energy storage
indoor photovoltaics
perovskite solar cells
title Ultra-Low-Power Indoor Light Harvesting and Solar Cell Characterization System
title_full Ultra-Low-Power Indoor Light Harvesting and Solar Cell Characterization System
title_fullStr Ultra-Low-Power Indoor Light Harvesting and Solar Cell Characterization System
title_full_unstemmed Ultra-Low-Power Indoor Light Harvesting and Solar Cell Characterization System
title_short Ultra-Low-Power Indoor Light Harvesting and Solar Cell Characterization System
title_sort ultra low power indoor light harvesting and solar cell characterization system
topic Data consolidation
energy harvesting
energy storage
indoor photovoltaics
perovskite solar cells
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10745483/
work_keys_str_mv AT darjoursic ultralowpowerindoorlightharvestingandsolarcellcharacterizationsystem
AT matijapirc ultralowpowerindoorlightharvestingandsolarcellcharacterizationsystem
AT markojost ultralowpowerindoorlightharvestingandsolarcellcharacterizationsystem
AT markotopic ultralowpowerindoorlightharvestingandsolarcellcharacterizationsystem
AT markojankovec ultralowpowerindoorlightharvestingandsolarcellcharacterizationsystem