LiFi Reception from Organic Photovoltaic Modules Subject to Additional DC Illuminations and Shading Effects

Abstract

In this paper, we study the performance of organic photovoltaic (OPV) modules as LiFi receivers in two specific configurations. The PV-based LiFi receiver is first exposed to an additional homogeneous light source with different intensity levels and then the influence of partial lighting is studied (shading effect). In both cases, we compare the sensibility and the cutoff frequency of LiFi transmission when the solar cell is operated either in short-circuit mode (i.e. when it is loaded with an active transimpedance amplifier) or in open circuit mode (i.e. when it is terminated with an high impedance passive load). While the OPV module performance decreases in open-circuit mode as a function of the DC illumination level, we observe an improvement of the cutoff frequency in short circuit mode. This result seems very promising for outdoor LiFi transmissions but also for indoor conditions where natural light can disturb LiFi communications. Theoretical explanations involving physical parameters for energy harvesting (carrier mobility, lumped series resistance) are proposed to justify the observed behaviors. Finally, experimental results of shaded solar cells are provided in the two operating modes (open-circuit and short-circuit). We show that sensibility and bandwidth of OPV modules strongly depend on both the shading configuration and the operating mode.

Cellules Solaires pour les Télécommunications et la Récupération d’Énergie

“…L'analyse théorique de l'influence de la charge vue par le dispositif PV a été effectuée en 2020 (Fakidis, et al, 2020), en faisant varier le (Kadirvelu, et al, 2021). D'autres aspects ont été examinés, tels que la limitation de la bande passante des cellules et modules, l'aspect non linéaire dans une configuration de récupération d'énergie (Chen, et al, 2021) et les effets d'ombrage et d'éclairage ambiant dans les modules (Lorrière, et al, 2019).…”

A Review on LiFi Network Research: Open Issues, Applications and Future Directions

“…A high reverse bias is added to raise the electric field and the velocity of the carriers responsible for the avalanche effect. Owing to the phenomenon of avalanches, APD shows great photo sensibility relative to a PIN PD, (iii) SPADs, (iv) CMOS sensors [159,[171][172][173] and (v) solar photovoltaic PV cells [156,161,174]. Several benefits and drawbacks of using a PV-based receiver are shown in Table 3.…”

“…To build, design, or study the architectural components of a LiFi system, understanding and investigating all the entities that must be included in the development of the LiFi systems are important. Figure 7 illustrates the essential components of infrastructure, AP side and UE side.The AP side includes Internet access [6], lamp driver, and light bulb, which represents the AP [137]; CU to control the flow of the data and support the LB and APA process [94]; and PLC or POE, which make to the use of the power lines as the medium of communication in the infrastructure among Internet servers [16,18,143,174], CU, and APs possible. The UE includes cell phone, PC, or a dongle, including a light detector, such as a PD or camera [118], solar cell [175], or PV [174,176], as receivers.…”

“…structure, AP side and UE side.The AP side includes Internet access [6], lamp driver, and light bulb, which represents the AP [137]; CU to control the flow of the data and support the LB and APA process [94]; and PLC or POE, which make to the use of the power lines as the medium of communication in the infrastructure among Internet servers [16,143,18,174], CU, and APs possible. The UE includes cell phone, PC, or a dongle, including a light detector, such as a PD or camera [118], solar cell [175] , or PV [174,176], as receivers.…”

Photovoltaic Solar Cells for Outdoor LiFi Communications

“…Most of outdoors optical communications (called FSO for Free-Space Optical communication) use laser-emitters, and some of them use a PV receiver [13], [14], [15]. However, to the best of our knowledge, only a few publications address LED-based VLC with PV modules as receivers [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], and none shows a data communication in real outdoor conditions. This work compares experimental performance obtained by a PV-based receiver and a PD-based receiver with a large range of solar irradiation levels and without any lens or color filter to improve the strength of the information signal.…”