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Ambient Photonics claims its new solar cell could be the future power source for connected devices, potentially eliminating the need for batteries.
Ambient Photonics will demonstrate the capabilities of its first bifacial solar cell at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, January 9-12. The low-light indoor bifacial solar cell collects light energy from the rear and front simultaneously and can be used in remote controls and other connected devices.
Ambient Photonics claims it can generate up to three times more energy than conventional technology. Its cells are manufactured using an industrial printing process in which proprietary energy-harvesting molecules are applied to thin, durable glass substrates to create cells of virtually any size and shape, the company says.
Ambients metal-free synthetic organic dyes have tunable electronic and optical properties, allowing the solar cells, according to the company, to operate in any indoor light, including compact fluorescent, halogen, LED, incandescent and daylight. diffuse or shadowed. Designed to replace batteries, Ambient Photonics says manufacturers can create much smaller and lighter products.
“Solar power has long been an option for certain low-power electronic devices, such as calculators or toys, but it took Ambient Photonics scientific breakthrough to develop high-performance solar cell technology for high-power devices.” , says Bates Marshall, co-founder and CEO of Ambient Photonics.
With the bifacial solar cell, light energy is collected from two sides. According to Ambient, the front face provides 100% of the energy that Ambient cells are known for, while the back face provides at least 50% of the energy as the front face.
At CES 2024, Ambient will show consumer electronics powered by Ambient solar cells, including remote controls from Universal Electronics and a wireless keyboard from Chicony. Ambient is also working with E Ink to integrate solar cells into next-generation electronic shelf labels. Ambient Photonics will hold parallel demonstrations at CES of its standard and bifacial DSSC solutions, showing how remote controls can harvest three times more energy than amorphous silicon cells and 1.5 times more than single-sided DSSC devices.
Ambient Photonics produces its indoor solar cells in a new, state-of-the-art 45,000-square-foot Fab 1 manufacturing facility in Scotts Valley, California. This automated facility uses a unique manufacturing process that allows solar cells to be printed in virtually any size and shape, according to the company, which estimates that its Fab 1 facilities are capable of producing tens of millions of units per year. Ambient plans to break ground on a second US-based smart manufacturing facility in 2025 to meet growing demand for its technology.
Ambient Photonics was founded in 2019 and the technology was developed at the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry and was initially funded by Cthulhu Ventures LLC. The company secured $31 million in Series A financing for a solar cell production facility, led by Amazon through its Climate Pledge Fund, and Ecosystem Integrity Fund, Fine Structure Ventures, I Squared Capital and Tony Fadells Future Shape. |
