Epishine signs distribution agreement with Farnell to enable light energy harvesting within electronic design
Epishine, a Swedish manufacturer of printed organic solar cells and development kits, has signed a new franchise agreement with Farnell, an Avnet Company and global distributor of electronic components, products and solutions. The new-to-market printed organic solar cells are optimised for harvesting energy from indoor, low energy lighting enabling organic solar power to be used everywhere. Design engineers can utilise this new and innovative technology with Epishine’s Light Energy Harvesting Evaluation Kit. Farnell is the first high service distributor to stock products from Epishine.
Epishine’s organic solar cells are small, thin, flexible, and printed on recyclable plastic. The cells can be easily integrated into any low power electronic equipment where they convert ambient indoor light into electricity. New product designers can replace batteries in wireless sensors and similar devices with the organic solar cells, reducing the environmental impact of battery waste and saving battery replacement costs.
The Light Energy Harvesting Evaluation Kit (EK01LEH3_6) demonstrates how Epishine’s Light Energy Harvesting (LEH) modules can power indoor wireless low-power devices that are usually powered by batteries. It combines a 6-cell 50x50mm LEH module with a supercapacitor which acts as an energy buffer and intelligent charging management system to support various output voltages and energy storage solutions. It can even use an external primary battery as a backup. The evaluation kit can deliver sufficient output current to power most low-power wireless devices such as BLE, Zigbee and LoRa. The ability to programme the evaluation kit provides added flexibility and showcases the unique product integration and design possibilities of Epishine’s LEH modules.
Key features include:
- Selectable output voltage ranging from 1.8V to 3.3V in 0.1V steps
- Up to 300mA output current
- Optimised for indoor use (-20°C to 40°C / 0-85%RH) with illumination intensities of 20 to 1000 lux
- A supercapacitor for energy storage which can be reconfigured to charge rechargeable battery
Epishine’s organic solar cells will be added to Farnell’s line card later this year. The company’s Light Energy Harvesting Evaluation Kit is now available for fast delivery from Farnell and Newark in North America.
Caption: Epishine’s light cell for energy harvesting (photo: Epishine)