FLEXWAVE's "Arc-solar Box" Harvests PV Energy with Two-Fold Efficiency, Mitigating Power Issues for IoT Solutions
After the Taiwanese government pledged to vigorously develop green energy, power generation from the renewable sources of wind and solar energy peaked in the summer of 2022. On August 22, solar power generation capacity reached a dazzling 5.55 million kilowatts, setting a historical record. The capacity of 5.55 million kilowatts accounts for 15% of Taiwan's total power generation, which makes an undoubtedly significant contribution to the energy demand in Taiwan. While the government strives to increase renewable energy power generation in units of megawatts, the startup team of FLEXWAVE chooses a totally different path and seeks to improve energy harvesting efficiency with small but intricate micro-devices. It may be true that the scale of power generated by such devices is not comparable with that of wind turbines or solar farms, and it can hardly have a decisive impact on the overall energy layout. However, in many applications, we are witnessing how FLEXWAVE's technology has solidly promoted the implementation of IoT solutions.
Energy-harvesting broadly refers to the means of collecting and utilizing renewable energy to generate electricity, but today it has another meaning. Now, technology can help harvest existing energy bit by bit. Although the amount collected is not large at all, the power is more than enough for small IoT devices to be self-sufficient. What this energy harvesting method pursues is not to maximize the use of renewable energy and power supply, but to focus on the power required by a single device and make it sustainable and self-sufficient.
Currently, energy harvesting is more about "energy regeneration" and small-amount collection for immediate use. Thus, it has also brought about many devices under this principle, such as dynamo lighting for bikes, piezoelectric elements, braking kinetic energy recovery system on EVs, and also the well-known solar PV panels. In the blueprint constructed by solar energy collection through PV panels, power generation efficiency has always been a great concern. Since sunlight conditions cannot be mandated by humans, solar power generation is basically a simple mathematical problem: Area of PV panels × Power generation efficiency = Amount of power generated. When the efficiency cannot be improved significantly, there is naturally no choice but to increase the area of PV panels.
However, FLEXWAVE has found a solution to effectively improve power generation efficiency of solar panels from the semiconductor packaging process.
"Everyone must have played with a magnifying glass when young, right? If you move it and adjust the focus, you can make the paper burn. We simply use the same principle to improve the power generation efficiency of solar panels," FLEXWAVE CEO Daniel Chou explained. When mentioning his company's exclusive technology that has obtained seven invention patents and one new patent, he is enthusiastic as a primary school teacher. This magical "magnifying glass" is the waveguide PV modules, crafted from soft elastic materials.
FLEXWAVE's waveguide modules can collect a wider angle of incident light than traditional solar modules. Through its silicone, direct light can be converted into refraction, thereby controlling the focus of light and increasing energy efficiency. It can effectively collect light even on cloudy days with poor sunlight conditions or in indoor settings with only artificial lighting. This is the secret weapon to improve the power generation efficiency of its PV panels.
With the waveguide technology as core, FLEXWAVE has found a foothold in the solar PV market and packages this solar power module into the "Arc-solar Box." ARC is a waterproof solar panel box specially designed for LPWAN/4G (Gateway) IoT solutions, which has overcome the limitation that traditional solar panels must directly face the sunlight. The wide-angle light absorption technology allows this solution to be implemented in more scenarios, thus leading to a wider range of applications. On a sunny day, "Arc-solar Box" can collect and provide power greater than that provided by a standard AAA battery. Also, it has a lifespan of 10 years, which provides companies with a battery-free and economical solution.
The power greater than that of an AA battery? It may sound like a joke, but just like the core concept of energy harvesting mentioned earlier, as long as the Arc-solar Box can continuously supply the power required by IoT devices, it will be more than enough to bring about ground-breaking changes to the industry. Most IoT devices are lightweight and portable in size, so they don't use much power. However, the need to stay connected at all times means that power supply can by no means be interrupted for any moment.
"When it comes to smart living, everyone tends to overlook power demand, but all acts of information transmission require power." Compared with network failure, IoT engineers actually worry more about devices running out of power. With the applications of IoT technology becoming more widespread in recent years, the actual deployment environment has moved beyond indoor settings and has gradually expanded to other forms of space. In response, just supplying power for devices scattered everywhere will have to consume considerable manpower. Fortunately, after the advent of FLEXWAVE's high-efficiency energy harvesting system, this problem has been completely resolved.
Take YouBike 2.0, equipped with a soft- and hardware integrated system designed by Microprogram (an ICT Design House), for example: The smart computing module on the new bicycles requires an off-grid, continuous source of power, which opened up opportunities for the collaboration between FLEXWAVE and Microprogram. Based on the deployment experience of YouBike 1.0, in order to carry out smart rental and return operations, dedicated wires and (wired) communication systems must be built to the parking piles, so there was the need for additional time to process relevant construction applications. As for YouBike 2.0 vehicles, IoT tech has enabled smart wireless communications. After the introduction of FLEXWAVE's customized energy harvesting system, it has overcome the limitations of power sources and greatly reduced construction time and maintenance costs. Since YouBike 2.0 was launched in 2019, it has received extremely positive user feedback.
"According to feedback based on Microprogram's calculations, each YouBike 2.0 vehicle will need to return to the factory for battery replacement every 1.5 months, but under Kaohsiung's sunshine conditions, most vehicles that receive sufficient sunlight do not need to have their batteries replaced for more than six months." FLEXWAVE's embedded energy harvesting system, which has a charging efficiency two times higher than that of commercially available solar panels, can continue to charge even during typhoons. At the same time, in terms of environmental sustainability, this system's cumulative power generation in one year is equivalent to that of 10.8 million AA batteries, thereby reducing 1,156 tons of carbon emissions (calculated based on the data collected from the approx. 50,000 YouBike 2.0 vehicles).
In addition to customized solutions in response to the special demands of collab partners, FLEXWAVE has also endeavored to build an AIoT power platform in a bid to package solar panels and power management functions in one box through modular design. Under this initiative, the "Arc-solar Box" with an IP67 rating (i.e., can withstand submersion in up to 40 inches of water for half an hour) as well as CE and RoHS certification was launched to serve as the power base for AIoT devices. In order to find the most fitting communication network PCB for the "Arc-solar Box," FLEXWAVE sought the assistance of the IoT Service Hub, which later matched FLEXWAVE's needs with the product of Sintegration Corp. In the end, Sintegration provided the best communication module for the device, allowing the FLEXWAVE team to complete product development and expand the applications of its patented solar PV technology, thereafter solving the pain points of many AIoT device manufacturers.
