In the world of solar technology, maximizing efficiency and reliability is crucial, particularly under low light conditions such as those found indoors. Thin film solar cells typically consist of multiple layers stacked on top of each other. However, each added layer introduces potential defects, such as microscopic 'holes,' which can disrupt the uniformity of the layer if the hole is filled with conducting material from the electrode deposition.
These imperfections can create minor short circuits, significantly degrading the solar cell's performance at low light intensities. This poses a challenge for maintaining efficiency in indoor lighting conditions, where light is typically less intense compared to direct sunlight.
The Power of Lamination
At Epishine, we have developed a patented lamination process that effectively addresses this issue, ensuring that our indoor solar cells maintain high performance even under low light conditions. By printing half the solar cell on each substrate, letting the films dry, and then laminating them together, we eliminate the risk for conductive materials filling voids in the semiconducting active layer.
Illustration of how the lamination process eliminates problems with short circuits
Optimizing for Indoor Environments
Indoor environments present unique challenges and opportunities for solar cell technology. The light intensity indoors is generally lower and more diffuse compared to outdoor sunlight. This requires indoor solar cells to be highly efficient at capturing and converting available light into energy. Epishine's solar cells are specifically engineered to excel in such settings, ensuring that they perform reliably and efficiently in different lighting scenarios.
To put this into perspective, a typical sunny day with a clear sky provides a bit over 100,000 lux, a measurement of visible light intensity (illuminance), while a typical office setting, perhaps like the one you’re currently sitting in reading this article, is often around 500 lux. Epishine's solar cells can achieve high conversion efficiency, maintaining performance levels even at light intensities below 50 lux.
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Benefits for Product Integration
For product managers and developers, integrating our solar cells into their products means a significant enhancement in both reliability and efficiency. The roll-to-roll printing process produces solar cells that are ultra-thin and flexible making them easy to integrate. This makes Epishine's solar cells an ideal choice for powering a wide range of indoor applications, including IoT devices, sensors, and low-power consumer electronics.