23 AEI August 2013

Zinc Oxide Plays Key Role in PV

Device Development
A
t present, the development of
energy management systems,
such as Home Energy Man-
agement Systems (HEMS)
and Building Energy Management Sys-
tems (BEMS)*
1
is moving forward.
These systems are intended for reduc-
ing the energy consumption of buildings
by managing the operation of equip-
ment and facilities used at these build-
ings. So far, the main function of HEMS
and BEMS has involved visualization
of energy consumption. In the future,
however, these systems target both a
comfortable lifestyle and energy saving
by combining with Wireless Sensor Net-
work (WSN), which will enable them
to detect various statuses (such as pres-
ence/absence of a person and open/close
of a door or window) and to automati-
cally use energy only when and where
necessary, thus reducing unnecessary
energy consumption.
Therefore, one of the issues in achiev-
ing the practical use of this WSN tech-
nology is the power sup-
ply. If energy is consumed
by the sensor nodes that
are intended for reducing
energy consumption, it
would be pointless to use
the WSN technology in
the rst place. The instal-
lation locations of these
nodes should be exible
in order to provide a more
comfortable lifestyle.
Murata Manufacturing
Co., Ltd. is focusing on
the application of energy-
harvesting technology
in the power supply of
such sensor nodes. The
company is pushing for-
ward with the develop-
ment of various types of
energy-harvesting de-
vices for vibration-based
power generation using
the piezoelectric effect,
thermoelectric conversion
elements that can convert
temperature difference
into electrical energy, and
photovoltaic devices that
are introduced in this ar-
ticle.
Photovoltaic Device
In situations where people perform
various activities, there is always some
form of light. Photovoltaic devices col-
lect the ambient energy (such as lights)
that exists around people and convert it
into electrical energy that can be used
for electronic devices. Amorphous sili-
con solar cells are the most common
form of photovoltaic device, while
Murata is currently developing a dye
sensitized photovoltaic device using
zinc oxide (ZnO).*
2
The company aims
to develop a dye sensitized photovoltaic
device, which can generate power from
extremely weak indoor lights as a power
source to be used by a sensor node as
well as that which is less dependent on
the angle of incident lights, thin, light-
weight, and unbreakable.
Fig. 1 shows the structure of a dye
sensitized photovoltaic device. The sub-
strate uses a resin lm, and a transparent
electrode is formed on this substrate. A
porous semiconductor lm is formed on
the substrate of the active electrode side
using a process, such as a screen printing
process and the pigments are absorbed
to this lm. On the other hand, a cata-
lyst layer (such as Pt catalyst layer) is
formed on the transparent electrode of
the counter electrode side. The electro-
lyte is sealed between these two sheets
of substrates.
The power generation principle of
the dye sensitized photovoltaic device
involves the repetition of the following
reduction-oxidation reactions: (1) When
the semiconductor lm with absorbed
Electron
I
3
-
3I
-
Electron
E
l
e
c
t
r
o
l
y
t
e
C
a
t
a
l
y
s
t

l
a
y
e
r
Lights
S
u
b
s
t
r
a
t
e
T
r
a
n
s
p
a
r
e
n
t

e
l
e
c
t
r
o
d
e
Active electrode Counter electrode
Film with pigments absorbed to
the porous semiconductor film
Fig. 1: Structure of dye sensitized photovoltaic device
Fig. 2: Photos of dye sensitized photovoltaic device
Energy Harvesting Technology
Copyright2013 Dempa Publications, Inc.
24 AEI August 2013
pigments is exposed to lights, the pig-
ments discharge electrons; (2) The dis-
charged electrons move to the counter
electrode side via the semiconductor
lm, and transparent electrode, among
others; (3) At the counter electrode side,
triiodide ion (I
3
) in the electrolyte is
reduced by catalysis and is converted
to iodide ion (3I

); (4) On the pigments,

iodide ion (3I

) is oxidized back to triio-

dide ion (I
3
).
The important point in developing
this device is to make the surface area of
the porous semiconductor lm as large
as possible. Generally, a semiconductor
lm is formed using titanium dioxide
(TiO
2
). To form the semiconductor lm,
however, it is necessary to use a sintering
process at 400C or higher. Therefore, a
lm cannot be used as a substrate. For
that reason, Murata has developed a thin,
lightweight, and unbreakable dye sensi-
tized photovoltaic device made of a resin
lm (see Fig. 2). Under the guidance of
Professor Tsukasa Yoshida of Yamagata
University, it was developed by applying
a method that uses zinc oxide (ZnO) to
form a porous semiconductor lm at a
low temperature.
At this time, Murata is moving for-
ward with the development of a dye
sensitized photovoltaic device that can
achieve higher power generation than
an amorphous silicon solar cell even
from an extremely weak indoor light of
200lux or less by optimizing the combi-
nation of materials, such as electrolyte
and pigments, and the processing con-
ditions. The power generation amount
of an evaluation cell is 7W/cm
2
or
higher under a 200lux white light-emit-
ting diode (LED) light, which is equal
to or higher than the power generation
amount of amorphous silicon solar
cells.
Sample WSN Application
A photovoltaic device like indoor
lights collects tiny amounts of ambient
energy around people and converts this
energy into electrical energy. An ex-
ample of a WSN application that uses a
photovoltaic device is introduced below.
This example is of a wireless watching
system (see Fig. 3) that will be required
for HEMS and BEMS in the future. The
wireless watching system uses a motion
sensor, magnetic sensor, and tempera-
ture and humidity sensor to detect sta-
tuses (such as the presence/absence of a
person, opening/closing of a door, etc.,
and the temperature and humidity in a
room) and then wirelessly send these
sensor data so that they can be applied to
automatically control the energy in order
to achieve a comfortable lifestyle using
minimum energy.
Since a photovoltaic device is used as
a power source for the sensor nodes in
this wireless watching system and wire-
less communication is used to transmit
the sensor data, this system does not re-
quire batteries and wiring and can be in-
stalled easily at any location. In order to
realize maintenance-free sensor nodes,
(Continued on page 27)
Fig. 3: Wireless watching system
Fig. 4: Wireless watching system installed in Smart Cell model home of Yokohama
Smart Community
Energy Harvesting Technology
Copyright2013 Dempa Publications, Inc.
27 AEI August 2013
(Continued from page 24)
Murata will work on miniaturization of
these photovoltaic devices by improv-
ing their characteristics and at the same
time the company will make an effort
to improve the long-term reliability of
the photovoltaic devices.
Conclusion
Murata has installed a eld test sys-
tem consisting of the wireless watch-
ing system (see Fig. 4) that uses these
photovoltaic devices in a Smart Cell
model home*
4
of the Yokohama Smart
Community*
3
. The company is using
this eld test system to perform evalu-
ations on whether stable sensor opera-
tion and data transmission is enabled
using the energy collected by photovol-
taic devices in an indoor space similar
to the actual application environment.
Through the eld tests, Murata can also
grasp the needs of the customers and in-
vestigate the performance and reliabil-
ity required of electronic components
used in the WSN system. Furthermore,
the company is going to study tech-
nology development and new product
development required for the energy-
harvesting market of the future.
Notes:
*1
: HEMS and BEMS stand for Home
Energy Management System and
Building Energy Management System,
respectively. These systems are used
for visualization of the energy used for
equipment, such as air conditioners
and lighting in homes and other build-
ings, and for control of optimal energy
consumption.
*2
: The dye sensitized solar cells de-
veloped by Murata are tailored for use
with indoor lights, and therefore they
are called photovoltaic devices instead
of solar cells.
*3
: The Yokohama Smart Community is
an organization of members consisting
of companies and universities working
together with Yokohama City to build a
community that can achieve a comfort-
able lifestyle using eco-friendly energy.
*4
: The Smart Cell model home is a place
for research and eld testing where the
Yokohama Smart Community and its
participating companies/organizations
work on building an ideal community
model that aims at energy use and cy-
clical social systems that do not impose
burdens on the natural environment.
Author:
The author, Hiroshi Nishikawa,
is from the Development Section 2,
Devices Development Department,
Device Development Center, Technol-
ogy & Business Development Unit,
Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Zinc Oxide Plays Key Role...
Copyright2013 Dempa Publications, Inc.