Indoor Performance Simulation of Flexible OPV Cells Towards Visible Light Communication and Energy Harvesting

Visible light communication (VLC) offers a solution to radiofrequency spectrum congestion by utilizing indoor lighting for illumination and communication purposes. Recent research explores the use of photovoltaic devices as receivers for simultaneous data detection and energy harvesting, representing an important advancement towards sustainable IoT nodes. Furthermore, emerging solar cells such as organic photovoltaics (OPVs) exhibit properties that meet the requirements of IoT, especially due to their large flexibility. However, it is crucial to validate flexible photovoltaic receivers performance in complex indoor environments while considering diffuse light pathway. In this context, we introduce the first ever curved OPV model, employing Monte Carlo ray tracing for simulation of light reception, associated to experimental validation. The new model allows the estimation of the channel impulse responses in realistic indoor settings, highlighting the efficacy of curved OPV devices in typical VLC scenarios for IoT.