A片资源吧

A recent study from A片资源吧 (SFU) provides new direction on how ambient light can be sustainably harvested to produce clean electricity.

The paper, published by professor Vincenzo Pecunia鈥檚 research group in , is the first to challenge the widespread belief that lead-free solar technologies for indoor light harvesting are automatically greener.

The study also introduces a framework for evaluating the environmental performance of indoor light harvesting technologies as power sources relative to batteries. And, it marks the first time an SFU-led study has been published in this prestigious journal.

Pecunia is a sustainable energy engineering professor and expert in ambient energy harvesting for clean electricity generation. He researches and develops ways to reuse and recycle energy from ambient light found in homes and buildings. His multidisciplinary research group, , is an international team investigating environmentally friendly, printable semiconductors for sensors and photovoltaics.

Indoor photovoltaics (IPVs) are a promising technology that harvest ambient indoor light to power the smart devices and tools we use in everyday life. Collectively, these intelligent devices are known as the Internet of Things (IoT), which is widely deployed around the world to improve sustainability and quality of life in homes, offices, healthcare smart cities, and more.   

IPVs can support the massive growth of the IoT in ways that are both practical and environmentally friendly. By reducing reliance on disposable batteries to power IoT devices, this technology helps reduce waste and lowers the energy demand on the grid. As a result, IPVs are a key part of building more sustainable intelligent systems for the future.

Pecunia鈥檚 study, , is the first to compare the environmental impact of lead-based and lead-free IPVs鈥攖echnologies based on novel materials that have shown great promise for efficient indoor light harvesting.

The researchers sought to answer two key questions: from a life-cycle perspective, are lead-based IPVs truly less environmentally sustainable compared to lead-free alternatives? And, among lead-free options, which IPVs offer the most competitive environmental profiles? To address these questions, they assessed the environmental sustainability profiles of various IPVs across their lifespan.

The results show that lead-based IPVs currently offer the best combination of high efficiency, stability, and environmental performance. Even after just a few weeks of energy harvesting, lead- and tin-based IPVs achieved net environmental benefits over disposable batteries鈥攁nd would go on to provide tenfold to hundredfold benefits over subsequent years of use鈥攚hile antimony- and bismuth-based IPVs achieved net benefits in 8鈥�10 months.
 

We spoke to Professor Pecunia about his research.

Why is improving the efficiency and sustainability of IPVs so important?

Indoor photovoltaics, or IPVs, are key to powering the next generation of smart devices. Most of these devices, part of the Internet of Things (IoT), currently rely on disposable batteries, which are wasteful and environmentally costly, especially as the number of devices is expected to reach tens of billions, and possibly more, in the coming years.

Improving efficiency means IPVs could deliver more power in a smaller footprint, enabling either more compact or smarter devices. But beyond performance, the sustainability angle is critical.

Replacing disposable batteries with efficient, eco-friendly IPVs is essential to keeping the IoT boom from becoming an environmental crisis. It's about building an IoT ecosystem that is not just smarter, but also greener.

Why is using lead for photovoltaics considered problematic, and how does your study reinforce the net benefits of using lead?

Lead is a toxic element, so concerns about its use in technology, including photovoltaics, are valid. In the energy-harvesting domain, the common assumption has been that going lead-free must be better for the environment. However, our study shows that may not be necessarily true.

We looked at the full life cycle of different IPVs and found that lead-based ones, despite containing a small amount of lead, would actually offer the best overall environmental performance. That is largely because they are more efficient and stable, so they would generate more clean energy and offset more environmental impact, especially compared to the disposable batteries they would replace.

So, while the risks of lead need to be taken seriously, in applications where the materials are encapsulated and properly handled, the environmental gains of lead-based IPVs could outweigh the risks. In essence, our findings challenge the idea that 鈥渓ead-free鈥� always means 鈥済reener.鈥�

What kind of considerations or policy strategies do you recommend to enhance the eco-friendliness of IPVs and make room for lead-based IPVs in IoT applications?

From a research perspective, advancing robust encapsulation strategies is key to making lead-based indoor photovoltaics safer and more sustainable. At the same time, continued efforts to improve the efficiency and durability of lead-free IPVs are important. If these technologies can match or exceed the performance of lead-based options, they may become more viable from an environmental standpoint.

On the policy side, we encourage regulators and industry to reflect on the full life cycle impacts of energy-harvesting technologies, rather than relying solely on preconceived labels such as 鈥渓ead-based鈥� vs. 鈥渓ead-free.鈥�

In particular, similar to exemptions granted for lead in traditional solar panels or some electronics鈥攂ased on net environmental benefits and controlled deployment and use scenarios鈥攊t is worth considering if lead-based IPVs could fit within such frameworks.

Ultimately, our hope is to promote thoughtful research and policies that support responsible and effective energy solutions for smart devices.

You also developed a framework for evaluating the environmental performance of solar and light cells. Please tell us more. How can we access the framework?  

We developed a way to assess if indoor photovoltaics truly help the environment compared to disposable batteries.

The framework calculates how much energy an indoor photovoltaic device can collect from indoor light over time, then determines how many batteries would be needed to provide the same amount of energy. Next, it compares the environmental cost of making the photovoltaic device to the cost of making all those disposable batteries it would replace over time.

This helps us find out how long it takes for the photovoltaic device to 鈥減ay back鈥� its environmental impact by replacing batteries, and whether it ends up being better for the planet in the long run.

By doing this, we can identify which indoor photovoltaics are worth using and how quickly they start making a difference compared to disposable batteries, which is their real-world use case.

We aim for this framework to become a standard tool to enable consistent, evidence-based comparisons across technologies, ultimately accelerating the adoption of the most sustainable energy solutions for the Internet of Things.

The full framework, with detailed equations and explanations, is presented in our.

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• Harvesting ambient energy to power the future