High-Voltage Energy Harvesting and Storage System for Internet of Things Indoor Application

On the path toward independence from fossil fuels, solar energy is the mostpromising solution, but it needs a robust and reliable storage system to face itsintrinsicfluctuations due to location, day cycle, and weather. The integrationbetween energy harvesting and storage (H&S) technologies is a must toward cleanenergy production, and it becomes even more appealing considering the possi-bility of producing electricity not only from direct sunlight but also from diffuselight and indoor illumination. Herein, a dye-sensitized solar module (DSSM)developed to harvest indoor illumination and directly store it into an electricaldouble-layer capacitor (EDLC) is presented. Five series-connected dye-sensitizedsolar cells are fabricated on the same substrate and the module is integrated with ahigh-voltage EDLC. The integrated device is characterized under indoor lightsources such as light emitting diodes andfluorescent lamps. The results show oneof the highest efficiencies ever reported for a high-voltage DSSM under indoorillumination (16.27%), the largest voltage window ever reported for an indoor H&Sdevice based on DSSM and EDLC—up to 3 V—and an overall photoelectricconversion and storage efficiency of 9.73% under indoor illumination.