Organic Electronics for Energy Harvesting

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Energy harvesting, also known as power harvesting or energy scavenging, is the process by which energy is derived from external sources, such as solar, wind, kinetic, and thermal and salinity gradients. This energy is captured and stored and is used for low-energy electronics. Energy harvesting, particularly from remote sources, is a striking alternative to running power lines, or using portable generators and battery sources. When harvested and stored locally, this essentially 'free' energy can be a very reliable and cost-effective solution -- even more so when the energy source is effectively inexhaustible. Today we need to be able to aggregate and store multiple energy sources for all useful purposes. As technology evolves, and devices require less and less energy to function, the field of energy-harvesting technology has become more important.

Introduction and Methodology

Objective
Scope
Methodology
Definitions

Energy-Harvesting Technologies

Photovoltaics
Dye-sensitized Solar Cells
Piezoelectric

Organic Materials and Devices

Silver Inks
Copper Inks
Dielectric Inks
Graphenes
Process Advances
OLEDs
Solar Cells
Piezoelectric
Supercapacitors
Batteries

Applications

EL
Photovoltaics
RFID
Sensors
Packaging
Display Inks
Textiles

Outlook

Materials
Processors
Circuitry
RFID
EL
OLEDs
Piezoelectric
Batteries
Medical

List of Tables

TABLE 3.1 Chronology of major developments in organic circuitry

List of Figures

FIGURE 2.1 Illustration of piezoelectric device using rubber
FIGURE 3.1 Fullerene
FIGURE 3.2 Graphene-based circuit
FIGURE 3.3 OLEDs have potential in solid-state lighting
FIGURE 3.4 Illustration of flexible piezoelectric power concept
FIGURE 4.1 Example of BIPV
FIGURE 4.2 Piezoelectric device
FIGURE 4.3 Flexible OLED display
FIGURE 4.4 E-reader display
FIGURE 5.1 OLED lighting concept