High voltage ultrathin-photovoltaic minimodules: fabrication technology and application to bioimplantable telesupplying

Abstract

In this work we show small (0.49 cm2) and thin (<70 µm) photovoltaic mini-generators capable of providing open circuit voltages up to 99 V and short circuit currents of 43 µA, achieving a maximum density power of 4.8 mW/cm2. The fabrication process and the thinning process of the minimodules are reported as well as its potential use in high voltage wearable or implantable applications. In this work we show the potential of this technology for high voltage low power consumption applications by means of a simulation study.

The minimodules have been modeled using the well known one diode model and simulation results obtained using this model have been validated experimentally. An application example based on simulation for an implantable micropump low power consuming is shown. The system simulates real consumptions of 3 mW working at voltages of 90 Vpp (±45 V) and a frequency of 1 kHz. Simulation results show that the PV system formed by two minimodules allows the micropump system working for 3 h/day showing a good energy balance of the whole system.