AlGaAs Photovoltaics for Indoor Energy Harvesting in mm-Scale Wireless Sensor Nodes

Indoor photovoltaic energy harvesting is a promising candidate to power millimeter (mm)-scale systems. The theoretical efficiency and electrical performance of photovoltaics under typical indoor lighting conditions are analyzed. Commercial crystalline Si and fabricated GaAs and Al 0.2 Ga 0.8 As phot...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on electron devices 2015-07, Vol.62 (7), p.2170-2175
Main Authors: Teran, Alan S., Joeson Wong, Wootaek Lim, Gyouho Kim, Yoonmyoung Lee, Blaauw, David, Phillips, Jamie D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs)
Density measurement
energy harvesting
Gallium arsenide
gallium arsenide (GaAs)
Lighting
Photovoltaic cells
Photovoltaic systems
photovoltaics
Silicon
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Summary:Indoor photovoltaic energy harvesting is a promising candidate to power millimeter (mm)-scale systems. The theoretical efficiency and electrical performance of photovoltaics under typical indoor lighting conditions are analyzed. Commercial crystalline Si and fabricated GaAs and Al 0.2 Ga 0.8 As photovoltaic cells were experimentally measured under simulated AM 1.5 solar irradiation and indoor illumination conditions using a white phosphor light-emitting diode to study the effects of input spectra and illuminance on performance. The Al 0.2 Ga 0.8 As cells demonstrated the highest performance with a power conversion efficiency of 21%, with open-circuit voltages >0.65 V under low lighting conditions. The GaAs and Al 0.2 Ga 0.8 As cells each provide a power density of ~100 nW/mm 2 or more at 250 lx, sufficient for the perpetual operation of present-day low-power mm-scale wireless sensor nodes.
ISSN:0018-9383
1557-9646
DOI:10.1109/TED.2015.2434336