Modeling, design and cross-layer optimization of polysilicon solar cell based micro-scale energy harvesting systems

This paper presents modeling, design, and cross-layer optimization of polysilicon solar cell based micro-scale energy harvesting systems. The proposed design methodology is suitable for energy harvesting systems employed in low-cost applications, such as wireless sensor networks. Our approach is unique in achieving maximum output power by cross-layer optimization of poly-silicon solar cells (thickness, grain boundaries and cell configuration) and power converter circuits. Simulation results indicate that optimizing the solar cell along with the power converter improves the system output power by 16% compared to a baseline approach of optimizing the two components separately.

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