Photovoltaic solar cells are often used in centralized power harvesting installations, generating large amounts of energy for use in the grid. Rohm Co Ltd, on the other hand, proposes the usage of organic photovoltaic solar cells (dye-sensitized cells) in small appliances and healthcare devices.
By implementing Graetzel solar cells in their appliances, Rohm assumes that light comes not directly from the Sun, but from general illumination. The usage of dye-sensitized solar cells is justified by the fact that they don’t need to be very efficient and because they use dyes, several colors can be used to design the objects and practically embed the solar cells inside them.
Gadgets that could use Rohm’s idea would be remote controls, wall clocks, pulse wave sensors, computer mice, etc.