Semtech and Exeger demo solar harvesting tech for Internet of Things (IoT) sensors

Exeger’s Powerfoyle solar harvesting cell technology combined with Semtech’s LoRa Edge platform claimed to enable more efficient and sustainable IoT tracking applications

Semtech Corp. has announced a collaboration with Exeger, a Swedish deep-tech company manufacturing fully customizable solar cells. Semtech says that by combining it’s’s LoRa Edge asset management platform with Exeger’s Powerfoyle solar cell technology it can significantly extend the battery life of asset tracking and environmental sensing devices.

Semtech’s LoRa Edge scans GNSS satellites as well as Wi-Fi SSIDs and partitions the processing between IoT devices and the LoRa Cloud to determine location. The Cloud-based solver apparently reduces power consumption and increases battery life. Exeger’s Powerfoyle can be integrated into any electronics device. The solar cell technology converts all forms of light to charge and power devices with clean, endless energy.

“Coupling the benefits of Powerfoyle with the ultra-low power capabilities of Semtech’s LoRa devices will provide IoT applications with an extended or even unlimited battery life,” said Dr. Oscar Hemberg, chief product integration officer at Exeger. “Together, we move one step closer to energy independence through more sustainable products powered with clean, endless energy.”

The patented Powerfoyle material integrates into IoT sensors with Semtech’s LoRa Edge chip-to-Cloud platform with the goal to create a new standard for environmentally friendly platforms for the IoT industry.

Combining both technologies is expected to spur a world of new solar-powered tracking applications for geolocation use cases, including indoor and outdoor asset tracking, global supply chain logistics, agriculture, smart utilities, and smart cities.

“LoRa devices enable smart IoT applications that help solve some of the biggest challenges facing our planet,” said Marc Pégulu, vice president and general manager for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group. “Semtech and Exeger’s collaboration will enable manufacturers to develop IoT devices leveraging new energy harvesting technology for a smarter and more sustainable future.”

New IoT asset trackers were to be showcased at EdgeTech+ 2022, Nov. 16 – 18, 2022, in Yokahama, Japan, in the LoRa Pavilion.