Research into energy harvesting for smartphones

A team of researchers at the University of Cambridge led by Professor Arokia Nathan are working on harvesting energy from light to power an OLED display in a step towards energy harvesting for smartphones. Their prototype device uses solar cells made of thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon within the phone's screen as the researchers are working on capturing light lost from the edges of a phone's screen together with ambient light to power the screen.

 

"The combination of photovoltaics, transistors, and a supercapacitor yielded a system with an average efficiency of 11% and peak efficiency of 18%," said Prof Nathan. "If the PV array converts 5% of ambient light to electricity, the energy harvesting system can generate as much as 165microwatts per square centimetre under the right lighting conditions. For a typical 3.7in smartphone screen, that equates to a maximum power output of 5milliwatts, which is quite useful power."

 

The researchers also created a system to even out voltage spikes which could damage the phone's battery.

 

The device is not yet ready for use by consumers and the researchers or working on improving the system's efficiency by combining other energy harvesting methods.

 

 

For more read Energy Harvesting and Storage for Electronic Devices 2011-2021 

 

And attend Energy Harvesting & Storage Europe 15-16 May 2012 Berlin, Germany