Advances in Photo-Supercapacitor Technologies for Integrated Energy Harvesting and Storage

The production of sustainable energy through clean energy technology has a crucial intention to overcome the limitations of conventional energy sources and environmental damage. A significant number of solar energy devices have been developed because of their abundant supply. However, the performance of single-photovoltaic energy systems is strongly influenced by weather conditions, geographic location, and illumination duration. Therefore, they require support from complementary energy sources within the overall energy system. To address this limitation, integrating a solar cell with a supercapacitor enables direct photo-charging, providing an alternative photo-rechargeable energy solution without generating harmful pollutants. The novel photo-supercapacitor system offers many potential advantages, such as high energy densities, storing harvested solar energy, quick response time, fast charge and discharge rates, a wide operating temperature range, stabilizing power systems, and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, a synergy of photoactive semiconductors and capacitive compounds can be helpful in the fabrication of both stimulus-responsive materials. This allows the photo-generated carrier device to be an effective and ideal renewable energy technology. In this study, we provide a broad overview of the design configuration, working mechanism, and fabrication of various compact system forms of photo-supercapacitor devices. A comparative analysis of innovative materials and electrochemical characterization is specifically explained to evaluate comprehensive energy conversion performance. Herein, this review summarizes all of the advances in photo-supercapacitors for these next-generation energy harvesting and storage, including potential, opportunities, and challenges to build sustainable energy systems as the pioneers of green energy production.