New record set for recycling indoor light to electricity

April 12, 2012

G24 Innovations, a Cardiff, Wales-based manufacturer of dye-sensitized cells for indoor light energy harvesting — the recycling of ambient indoor light to electricity — has developed a new cell composition that achieves an average 26 percent conversion efficiency, breaking the company's previous record of 15 percent.

The new photovoltaic cell is based on recent work by Professor Michael Graetzel and colleagues at the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. The composition of dye and electrolyte has been engineered to harvest the light spectrum found in indoor ambient light and produce a higher voltage, thus generating more recycled electricity from light.

"It puts the 30 percent threshold within reach," Graetzel said. "Ultimately, close to 40 percent power conversion efficiency appears feasible with this kind of light source."