Large-Area Wide Bandgap Indoor Organic Photovoltaics for Self-Sustainable IoT Applications

Superior spectral responsivity, low open-circuit voltage losses, and good scalability make organic photovoltaics (OPVs) potential power generating contenders for low-power consumption electronic devices for indoor self-sustainable applications. Herein, large-area organic photovoltaic devices with PBTZT-stat-BDTT-8: PC71PM photoactive layer are fabricated to develop indoor power sources for low-power, portable, and wireless electronic devices. The better spectral matching of PBTZT-stat-BDTT-8-based photoactive absorber layer with light-emitting diode (LED) emission spectra translates a power conversion efficiency (PCE) over 18% for single-cell (0.38 cm(2)) device. Whereas, PCEs over 17% and 16% are observed for mini-module (18.63 cm(2)) and submodule (40 cm(2)) under 1000 lux LED (2700 K) illumination, respectively. The emission powers of the LED lamps are carefully analyzed, and integral current densities of photovoltaics cells are calculated with the help of external quantum efficiency and photon flux spectrum to assure the reliability of photovoltaic measurements. Finally, the commercially available programmable Arduino boards and Bluetooth-based Internet of Things devices integrated with OPVs to build a self-sustainable communication system that can function well under indoor environment are demonstrated.