Sbir phase II: self-powering textiles for electronic wearables

This Cooperative Agreement award from the National Science Foundation provides $936,667 to Capacitech Energy, Inc. to develop self-powering textiles for electronic wearables under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program. The award seeks to advance an integrated energy capture, storage, and delivery technology incorporating advanced solar cells, supercapacitors, and power electronics into a single flexible unit (Supercell) connected to electronic loads. Design priorities include physical flexibility, wide operating temperature range, heat management, low resistance and leakage, high energy storage capacity, and efficiency. The approach pairs solar and supercapacitor technologies to complement each other, offering advantages over single-use batteries or discrete solar cells in size, weight, lifetime cost, and enabling expanded adoption of Internet of Things, wearable, and electronic technologies through an improved energy source.

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this small business innovation research (SBIR) project is to enable innovations in wireless internet-of-things (IOT), wearable sensors, and wearable products. Portable electric energy is a key component in many technological devices. This project advances a transformative technology that integrates energy capture, storage, and delivery into a single device to advance the portability and utility of small electronic devices. This SBIR phase II project proposes to overcome two key challenges faced in wireless IOT, wearable, and electronic products: battery life, and the costly inconvenience of frequently replacing batteries. The project integrates advanced solar cell, supercapacitor, and power electronic technologies into a single unit (SUPERCELL) easily connected to electronic loads. Design priorities include physical flexibility, wide operating temperature range, heat management, ultra-low equivalent series resistance and leakage, high energy storage capacity, and good operating efficiency. The approach pairs solar cell and supercapacitor technologies to work together, each complementing the other. Advantages include size, weight, and installed lifetime cost, when compared with single-use batteries, or with discrete solar cells. The proposed work will accelerate adoption of IOT, wearable, and electronic technologies by offering a better source of energy than field-replaceable batteries or discrete solar cells. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.