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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MEANINGFUL (Miniaturised Energy harvester for AutoNomous INdustrial, Global retail and FUture smart-cities appLications)

Teaser

Summary

The MEANINGFUL project aims to establish the feasibility of using Lightricityâ€™s miniaturised Photovoltaic Energy harvesting (EH) technology as a cost-effective renewable energy source for the billions of connected ultra-low power sensors that will be located inside buildings and homes.

This project addresses the needs and challenges of the fast-growing Internet-of-Things (IoT) market, particularly in smart sensing and monitoring, tracking and positioning of assets, and intelligent packaging. Most of these applications are tied to an indoor environment and there is no current solution for harvesting efficiently ambient indoor light (low level light is a challenge). The main customer and industry pain point is the current need to either have a power-wire (unpractical) or to replace (or manually recharge) the batteries in IoT sensors, devices and products. Battery replacement involves labour, transport and chemical waste that have detrimental environmental impact (increase of CO2 emissions) and financial consequences (increased cost-of-ownership due to extra maintenance).

There is thus a large gap in the market for a compact, cost-effective, battery-free system that can operate efficiently and be easily and seamlessly retro-fitted inside buildings, which this project is targeting.

Lightricity has already demonstrated up to 6x more power density (under indoor light) than conventional silicon-based technology, on the macro-scale (~10 cm^2 EH devices). The key focus of MEANINGFUL is on miniaturisation, implementation of cost-down processes and integration with complementary ultra-low power electronics and sensors.

MEANINGFUL thus aims to provide an ecologically friendly and sustainable solution for powering these IoT devices, helping people engage with the important issue of battery disposal and CO2 emissions.

Work performed

There were 6 main tasks during this feasibility study, all led by Lightricity.
Technical tasks:
T1: Complete autonomous IoT system technical specifications
T2: Process flow (incl. design rules) for mass-manufacturing
T3: Fabrication of initial EH prototypes
T4: Development of method for integration complete autonomous and compact IoT system

Commercial tasks:
C1: Identify the key stakeholders and complementary technologies required to provide a complete IoT plug-and-play solution
C2: Carry out a Voice-of-The-Customer study to understand the current and future needs of promising market segments

The project deliverables (all successfully delivered in Month 6) are summarised herein:
1) Physical prototypes: delivery of the first prototypes
2) Detailed reports: Delivery of two types of reports:
- Technical Feasibility report on manufacturability
- Business plan

Final results

The MEANINGFUL project (Phase 1) has established the feasibility of using Lightricityâ€™s Photovoltaic Energy harvesting (EH) technology as a cost-effective renewable energy source for the billions of connected ultra-low power sensors that will be located indoors. Lightricity had already demonstrated up to 6x more power density (under indoor light) than conventional silicon-based technology, on the macro-scale (~10 cm^2 EH devices). Importantly, Lightricity has shown in MEANINGFUL that this superior performance can be maintained at the micro-scale, by achieving miniaturisation and implementation of cost-down processes.

The MEANINGFUL project under the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Phase 1 scheme has allowed us to explore in detail both technical and commercial feasibility, including a better understanding of end users\' needs in relation to miniaturised IoT systems. In addition to these aspects of the project, Lightricity has been able to establish close working relationships with complementary technology providers and other manufacturers across the European Union, many of which are SMEs. With the planned further development of this technology significant business opportunities will allow for these interactions to strengthen, and for Lightricity and the eco-system of low-power IoT devices to flourish. We anticipate that this will lead to more highly skilled professionals from across Europe being employed in this fast-growing area.