Indoor light is an untapped source of energy for billions of small electronics. Devices like remote controls, keyboards, smoke alarms, and sensors spend their entire lifetimes in lit spaces but rely on batteries that need replacement.
As the number of connected devices grows with the rise of the Internet of Things, replacing those batteries is becoming costly, labour-intensive, and environmentally damaging.
Solar cells that can capture indoor light could solve this problem. They would use the energy already present in homes, offices, and factories to keep electronics running without the need for disposable power sources.
Yet existing indoor solar cells remain expensive and inefficient, leaving the technology far from mass adoption.
A team led by University College London (UCL) believes it has found a way forward.
Working with researchers from China and Switzerland, they have developed perovskite-based solar cells that are both more efficient and more durable than any commercially available indoor alternative.
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