A novel design of a MEMS solar cell based on microcantilever-photoinduced bending

Abstract

Solar energy is one of the major sources of green renewable energy. Photovoltaic (PV) cells have the focus in researches for long time to improve its efficiency and reducing cost. This paper introduces a novel design of a micro solar cell based on MEMS device harvesting thermal and quantum components of solar energy converted into mechanical energy that converted into electrical energy. Even it is a double energy conversion process, the micro solar cell has simple design structure and less expensive compared to the conventional micro PV cell. This device can be used to power wireless micro sensors or as micro battery charger, while arrays of this device can be used for small scale generation.