Many electronic device manufacturers are confronted with the imperative to eliminate batteries from their product design due to both environmental challenges and time-consuming battery replacement costs. The primary challenges in deploying large-scale battery-powered operations and solutions can be summarized in terms of integration, operational scale, and regulation, each of which can incur substantial costs. This situation is particularly pressing for real estate companies and building servicing firms, as they grapple with the challenge of ensuring the longevity of devices and the need to reduce the overall TCO for devices like presence sensors, temperature sensors, and humidity sensors.
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Dracula Technologies' organic photovoltaic technology works well with sensors based on Semtech's LoRa communication protocol. Recognized as the de facto wireless platform for IoT, LoRa stands out for its long-range capabilities and low-power features. Semtech Corporation is a provider of semiconductors, Internet of Things (IoT) systems and cloud connectivity services as well as a strategic partner and investor in Dracula Technologies.
Combining organic PV with energy storage
Layer Vault is a patented solution produced with OPV inkjet technology, tailored for ultra-low-power electronics, and designed to excel in low-light conditions (below 500 lux). This solution offers energy supply and storage based on organic materials without using rare earths or toxic materials. This very innovative product will reduce the reliance on conventional batteries and circumventing related production and use regulations. The energy storage layer in Layer Vault complements Dracula Technologies' existing OPV harvesting product line, transforming it into a 2-in-1 product. The OPV layer harvests ambient light for low-power devices, while the energy storage layer ensures autonomy by storing energy for power consumption during periods without ambient light. Layer Vault is tailored for a range of ultra-low-power devices, and efficiently powers Low Power Wide Area Networks devices, in sectors such as ESL (Electronic Shelf Labels), remote controls, Indoor Industrial IoT (Smart Building), Smart Asset Tracking (cold chain monitoring), and Indoor Consumer IoT (Smart Home).
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According to EnABLES, a European Union-funded Research Infrastructure project dedicated to exploring sustainable approaches for extending the battery life of IoT devices, 78 million batteries are projected to be discarded globally every day by 2025 if there is no enhancement of the lifespan of IoT device power sources. With an estimated one billion IoT devices expected worldwide by 2025, all requiring power, the project aims to eradicate the necessity for battery replacements whenever feasible through the implementation of energy harvesting solutions and to find ways to significantly reduce device power consumption. (mfo)
