In a factory on the outskirts of Stockholm, a confidential printer is churning out sheets worth thousands of euros every six seconds. Each sheet houses 108 tiny solar cells, destined to be integrated into everyday gadgets, from headphones to keyboards, revolutionizing our interaction with technology.
This is the brainchild of Exeger, a Swedish company, whose co-founder Giovanni Fili dared to look beyond the sun as the only source of power for a photovoltaic cell. The company’s groundbreaking technology can harness electricity from virtually any light source, including direct sunlight, candlelight, and even moonlight. “Like the algae on the bottom of the ocean where it’s almost pitch black, we can make efficient use of very few photons,” Fili said.
The company’s Powerfoyle solar cell is a game-changer. Unlike traditional glass-covered panels, these cells are not sensitive to partial shading, which significantly reduces the efficiency of photovoltaic panels. The patented skin-like material can morph into almost any material, allowing for seamless integration into a wide array of products while remaining waterproof, dustproof, and shockproof.
“It works in any light condition, it’s more durable than any other solar cell in the world, it’s easy to manufacture, and it can imitate any surface – leather, carbon fibre, wood, brushed steel. It’s also beautiful,” Fili said.
Exeger’s Stockholm facility, the largest of its kind in Europe, has the capacity to produce 2.5 million square meters of solar cells each year. Fili predicts that Exeger’s technology will “touch the lives of a billion people by 2030.”
The Powerfoyle solar cells have already been incorporated into seven products available on the market, including headphones, wireless speakers, and a bike helmet. A further six have been announced, with customers including Adidas, Phillips, and 3M. Rumors also suggest that Exeger is in talks with LogiTech and Apple.
Exeger is part of a wave of startups commercializing indoor solar panels. The promise of clean, endless power is attracting researchers and entrepreneurs alike. One such company, US-based Ambient Photonics, is drawn to the potential of the smart home and the possibility of eliminating the need for disposable batteries.
“Every advancement in the power density of our product brings us closer to a future where the need for disposable batteries is significantly reduced, if not entirely overcome,” said Bates Marshall, co-founder and CEO of Ambient Photonics.
The versatility and durability of Exeger’s Powerfoyle mean that the only limitations are energy-intensive devices like laptops and smartphones. However, even these could see a significant boost to their battery life of 50-100 per cent.
“Our grandchildren will laugh that we had cables,” Fili said, hinting at a future where the need for charging cables could become obsolete.
Fili believes that the Powerfoyle is an era-defining technology. Exeger is the first to commercialize the technology at this scale, and Fili sees everyone on the planet as a potential user. His confidence is echoed by others, with Forbes likening him to figures like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk.
“This is really, really huge,” Fili said. “We have just secured a contract with the world’s largest supplier of keyboards and mice, and have already partnered with some of the biggest companies and brands on the planet. This technology is going to take over the world.”