Power efficiency

Poland-based perovskite solar developer Sulate Technologies launched a new technology that integrates perovskite solar panels with ePaper Electronic Shelf Labels. The company says that these are the first ESLs of its kind, and they use either 2-color or 3-color E Ink panels.

Perovskite solar panels are highly efficient, and can maintain their high efficiency in artificial light, and also in indirect indoor lighting, which makes this solution viable in many installation environments, unlike conventional solar-based solar panels. The perovskite panels are also highly flexible, light and thin.

The Department of Transport Abu Dhabi (DoT) has installed 175 solar powered e-paper passenger information screens at bus stops across Abu Dhabi, following a successful proof of concept pilot in 2019.

The system was designed by Papercast, who says that the project includes 100 13-inch E Ink displays and 75 13-inch double E Ink displays powered by 20W solar modules.

Next:urban technologies, in cooperation with Operibus, deployed a new E Ink signage display project in the City of Gdynia, Poland. This is a bus transport system that shows real time departure, schedule plans and passenger information.

The displays used in this project are 13.3" 1600x1200 E Ink panels. These displays operate in a wide temperature range (-30 to 70, C) and include a heating system for colder days. The whole system is powered by solar panels that are placed on the top of the bus stations.

WaveShare announced a new 4.2" 400x300 and 7.5" 800x480 NFC-powered E Ink devices. The idea is that these can be used as small monitors that do not require any batteries or power.

These devices can be updated via a smartphone that supports NFC (via the NFCTag application). Screen refresh rime is around 4-5 seconds. The price of the 4.2" model is $39.99 and the 7.5" model is $68.99. Waveshare says that not all smartphones will have a strong enough NFC to connect to the devices, but Waveshare offers a dedicated NFC board with a micro-SD card for $22. These devices also ship from Amazon.com, costing a bit more than directly via WaveShare.

Papercast announced that it has successfully completed a solar powered e-paper bus stop display trial at bus stops on Lower Sloane Street (Stop M) and Waterloo Bridge (Stop P) in central London.

Papercast displays are based on E Ink panels and are powered exclusively from solar panels. The displays are wireless connected and can be easily installed completely ‘off-the-grid’. Transport Of London's Head of Tech & Data - Surface Transport says that Tfl is "very impressed by the advancements made, both in terms of performance and functionality".

ynvisible was established in Portugal in 2010 to develop flexible transparent electrochromic displays produced using a simple printing method. In 2011 the company started producing sample products (we tested one in August 2012). Fast forward to September 2018, the company has gone through a reverse take-over, and the now Canadian headquartered Ynvisible Interactive Inc. has inaugurated its new production line near Lisbon, and we had an interesting discussion with the company's CEO, Jani-Mikael Kuusisto who updates us on the company's technology and business.

ynvisible is focusing on developing the inks that are used to print these relatively simple displays for use in everyday consumer goods and printable surfaces. The electrochromic displays are cost-effective and highly energy-efficient. The company used to have a capacity to produce a few thousands of displays each month, but the new production facility can produce hundreds of thousands of displays each month.

E Ink announced a new collaboration with Texen, a provider of product solutions for the luxury and beauty market, to bring personalized packaging solutions to cosmetic customers. The companies demonstrated a smart packaging design for customizable packaging displays for makeup compacts, perfume bottles and other cosmetic packaging.

The E Ink display is powered purely by near field communications (NFC) and can be updated by a smartphone that generates radio frequency signals carrying both the information and energy needed to update the display. E Ink and Texen are already taking customers orders for the new solution.

Microsoft Research developed a small e-paper (E Ink) based display that harvests its entire energy using photo-voltaic cells on the back. Using low-energy bluetooth the device connects tot he network every 1-25 minutes (depends on the ambient lighting) to update the display.

The display itself seems very small (around 2-3 inch in size and is a very low resolution one). This is a very neat little gadget, although it's unlikely this will be turned into a real commercial product, at this stage it is just a research project.

In March 2015 Bookeen announced it is developing a solar-powered e-reader cover in collaboration with Sun Partner. The Solar Leaf Cover is now available exclusively for Bookeen's Cybook Ocean, for $67.

The cover has a 19 inch² (125 cm²) patterned solar panel that can charge the e-reader. A one-hour exposure to a brightness of 25,000 lux is enough to charge the reader for about 30 minutes of reading.

Mexico-based PERO360 developed a new solar-powered E Ink kiosk called Community HUB, that help students in schools report violence cases anonymously and safely. A 12-month trial in Mexico saw rediced abusive behavior and helped the school implement new violence prevention politics. Community HUB won the World Summit Aware for Inclusion and Empowerment.

The Community HUB uses Visionect's E Ink system. The developers say e-paper is the best fit for this kind of application due to the low power consumption and the outdoor visibility.