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August 3, 2017 - inconnu - Personal devices like smartphones and computer tablets could soon be powered by energy harvested by the owner’s sunglasses.Researchers’ from Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have created a pair of sunglasses that generate electricity via solar cells that double as their lenses.Organic solar cells were chosen instead of more traditional silicon cells because they're transparent, flexible, lightweight, and can be manufactured in a variety of shapes and colours.Each solar cell lens weighs about six grams, is 1.6 mm thick, and was made to fit into a set of commercially-produced sunglass frames.The frames feature added electronics in the arms, including a microprocessor, two sensors and two displays. The lenses power those electronics, which measure and display the current illumination intensity and ambient temperature as bar graphs.Although they work best in direct sunlight, each lens is still able to generate 200 microwatts of power under indoor illumination as low as 500 lux, which is about the average lighting for most offices or living areas. That 200 microwatts is enough to power a device such as a hearing aid or a step counter.The technology could conceivably also be applied to the windows of buildings, where it would generate much more power.Head of Organic Photovoltaics Group at the institute’s Light Technology department Dr. Alexander Colsmann said:” “We bring solar power to places where other solar technologies fail.”According to Colsmann, another field of application is the integration of solar cells into buildings.Since the glass facades of many high-rise buildings must often be shaded, he called it “ an obvious option “ to use organic solar modules for transforming the absorbed light into electric power. PhD student Dominik Landerer who largely contributed to the development of the solar glasses , added: “The Solar Glasses we developed are an example of how organi

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Daily Round Up 3 Aug 2017
August 3, 2017 - inconnu - Personal devices like smartphones and computer tablets could soon be powered by energy harvested by the owner’s sunglasses.Researchers’ from Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have created a pair of sunglasses that generate electricity via solar cells that double as their lenses.Organic solar cells were chosen instead of more traditional silicon cells because they're transparent, flexible, lightweight, and can be manufactured in a variety of shapes and colours.Each solar cell lens weighs about six grams, is 1.6 mm thick, and was made to fit into a set of commercially-produced sunglass frames.The frames feature added electronics in the arms, including a microprocessor, two sensors and two displays. The lenses power those electronics, which measure and display the current illumination intensity and ambient temperature as bar graphs.Although they work best in direct sunlight, each lens is still able to generate 200 microwatts of power under indoor illumination as low as 500 lux, which is about the average lighting for most offices or living areas. That 200 microwatts is enough to power a device such as a hearing aid or a step counter.The technology could conceivably also be applied to the windows of buildings, where it would generate much more power.Head of Organic Photovoltaics Group at the institute’s Light Technology department Dr. Alexander Colsmann said:” “We bring solar power to places where other solar technologies fail.”According to Colsmann, another field of application is the integration of solar cells into buildings.Since the glass facades of many high-rise buildings must often be shaded, he called it “ an obvious option “ to use organic solar modules for transforming the absorbed light into electric power. PhD student Dominik Landerer who largely contributed to the development of the solar glasses , added: “The Solar Glasses we developed are an example of how organi