PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL WITH FIBER MESH SUPPORT AND CHARGER FOR PORTABLE ELECTRONICS
FIG4 shows a view from below of the part of the photovoltaic charger shown in FIG3
The second conducting layer 16 has a bottom surface facing the bottom sheet 5b. The second conductor is in mechanical and electrical contact with the bottom surface, and the second conductor extends along the bottom surface. In this example, the photovoltaic charger has only one second conductor 20. Alternatively, the photovoltaic charger can have a plurality of second conductors extending across the bottom surface of the second conducting layer 16. In this example, the second conductor 20 extends along an edge of the bottom side of the solar cell unit 2, as shown in FIG4. However, the second conductor 20 can be arranged in many different ways as long as it is in electrical contact with the second conducting layer, since the second conductor 20 is not visible from the outside of the photovoltaic charger 1a.
view
5
than encapsulation
22
boost converter
18
first conductor
2
solar cell unit
4
between
20
between
3
connection elements
['1. A photovoltaic charger (1;1a;1b) specially adapted for charging an electronic device, comprising: • a solar cell unit (2) comprising: - a working electrode comprising a porous light-absorbing layer (10) including dyed TiO 2 , - a porous first conducting layer (12) for extracting photo-generated electrons from the light-absorbing layer (10), wherein the light-absorbing layer is arranged on top of the first conducting layer, - a porous substrate (14) made of an insulating material and extending through the entire solar cell unit, wherein the first conducting layer (12) is formed on one side of the porous substrate (14), - a counter electrode including a second conducting layer (16), wherein the second conducting layer is formed on the opposite side of the porous substrate (14), and - a conducting medium for transferring charges between the counter electrode and the light-absorbing layer, • an encapsulation (5) encapsulating the solar cell unit, • a first conductor (18) electrically connected to the first conducting layer (12), and • at least one second conductor (20) electrically connected to the second conducting layer (16), wherein the photovoltaic charger contains only one single solar cell unit (2) and a boost converter (22) electrically connected to the first and second conductors (12, 16), and the boost converter is adapted to step up the voltage from the solar cell unit while stepping down the current from the solar cell unit.']