Sustainable, affordable and decentralised sources of electrical energy are required to power the network of electronic devices known as the Internet of Things. Power consumption for a single Internet of Things device is modest, ranging from μW to mW, but the number of Internet of Things devices has already reached many billions and is expected to grow to one trillion by 2035, requiring a vast number of portable energy sources (e.g., a battery or an energy harvester). Batteries rely largely on expensive and unsustainable materials (e.g., rare earth elements) and their charge eventually runs out. Existing energy harvesters (e.g., solar, temperature, vibration) are longer lasting but may have adverse effects on the environment (e.g., hazardous materials are used in the production of photovoltaics). Here, we describe a bio-photovoltaic energy harvester system using photosynthetic microorganisms on an aluminium anode that can power an Arm Cortex M0+, a microprocessor widely used in Internet of Things applications. The proposed energy harvester has operated the Arm Cortex M0+ for over six months in a domestic environment under ambient light. It is comparable in size to an AA battery, and is built using common, durable, inexpensive and largely recyclable materials.

中文翻译：

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通过光合作用为微处理器供电

为被称为物联网的电子设备网络供电，需要可持续、负担得起和分散的电能来源。单个物联网设备的功耗适中，从微瓦到毫瓦不等，但物联网设备的数量已经达到数十亿，预计到2035年将增长到一万亿，需要大量的便携式能源（例如，电池或能量收集器）。电池主要依赖于昂贵且不可持续的材料（例如稀土元素），它们的电量最终会耗尽。现有的能量收集器（例如，太阳能、温度、振动）更持久，但可能对环境产生不利影响（例如，危险材料用于光伏生产）。在这里，我们描述了一种生物光伏能量收集系统，该系统在铝阳极上使用光合微生物，可以为广泛用于物联网应用的微处理器 Arm Cortex M0+ 供电。拟议的能量收集器已在家庭环境中的环境光下运行 Arm Cortex M0+ 超过六个月。它的大小与 AA 电池相当，采用普通、耐用、廉价且大部分可回收的材料制成。