Common Solar Tech Can Power Smart Devices Indoors, NIST Study Finds
Any time you turn on a light at home or in the office, you are expending energy. But what if flipping the light switch meant producing energy too?
We usually think of solar, or photovoltaic (PV), cells fixed to roofs, converting sunlight into electricity, but bringing that technology indoors could further boost the energy efficiency of buildings and energize swaths of wireless smart technologies, such as smoke alarms, cameras and temperature sensors, also called Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Now, a study from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) suggests that a straightforward approach for capturing light indoors may be within reach. NIST researchers tested the indoor charging ability of small modular PV devices made of different materials and then hooked up the lowest efficiency module — composed of silicon — to a wireless temperature sensor.