Solar technology operates with indoor lighting

Sol Chip's patented technology integrates solar energy conversion with very large scale integration (VLSI) techniques to produce ambient light harvesting devices that can even extract energy from office lighting to provide 24/7power. These boards, based on Sol Chip's Saturn cells, provide power even in office light conditions.

The output voltage of these ‘everlasting solar batteries’ is regulated to 3.6V; but other voltages are available by request, which can suit alternate applications. Versions are available with 1, 2, 3, or 6 Saturn solar cells depending on the power needs. The 6-cell version provides an average output current of up to 750uA from the integrated solar cells, with up to 1.5A peak current. The capacity of the 3.6V onboard rechargeable batteries in the series is 190-1100mAh.

The SCP series of boards allow designers to build fit-and-forget light-powered products that can recharge themselves. Existing products can be modified by simply disconnecting a device's traditional batteries and plugging in an SCP to create a self-powered, no maintenance device. All that is needed is a small window to allow light to reach the board - it does not even need to be pointed to the sky. Operable in sunlight and indoor environments, it removes the need for a battery power source in low power applications, removing maintenance headaches and hazardous battery waste issues.

Incorporating an SCP module into mobile designs is perfect for hard-to-reach locations, and eradicates the significant costs and time associated with installing and maintaining wiring to connect deployed sensors, and thus reduces the cost of system ownership.

The SCP series is suitable for designing in to remote sensors and monitoring systems that are used in diverse applications such as: agriculture, farming, drip-irrigation systems, weather testing, as well as security, IoT, wireless sensor networks, wearable electronics, etc. Other applications include smart city solutions for everything from parking to security and utility meters, data loggers, GPS emergency locators, animal tracking devices, GPS asset/container tracking, GPS vehicle tracking, environmental measurement and radio frequency identification (RFID) devices.