David Savastano, Editor03.14.23
The idea of the Internet of Things (IoT) makes terrific sense, but the challenge is to be able to power these millions of sensors in a cost-effective manner. This becomes even more of an issue when the items are indoors. By harnessing ambient light with its inkjet-printed organic photovoltaic modules, Dracula Technologies is solving this hurdle and catching the eye of customers.
Brice Cruchon founded Dracula Technologies in 2011 and as CEO, he has positioned the company to support ultra-low power devices around the world. Today, more than 30 people are working for Dracula Technologies. During CES 2023, the Valence, French-based company showcased its LAYER® technology, which provides customizable eco-friendly modules to support the small and variable shaped objects needed for indoor IoT at a lower overall cost.
Cruchon pointed out that most connected devices today are powered with batteries, especially when they are deployed indoors, which is the case for about half of all IoT devices. But batteries have limited lifetimes and are built with toxic materials.
“Not only do they have to be changed to keep connected devices running, but they must also be thrown away, adding to a mounting pile of e-waste,” Cruchon noted.
Thanks to more than ten years of research and development, Dracula Technologies has found a new way of overcoming these challenges: an energy harvesting solution based on organic materials that absorb indoor light to power small devices. Dracula Technologies recently raised €5.5 million through French venture capitalists and Semtech Corporation, a leading global semiconductor supplier. The company was also selected by the European Innovation Council to receive a grant of €1.6 million and an additional €5 million in equity funding.
Technology Behind the LAYER OPV Solution
Cruchon pointed out that the company's LAYER technology is the only system that provides customizable eco-friendly modules to support the small and variable shaped objects needed for indoor IoT, and at a lower overall cost.
“The technology is based on the photovoltaic effect, which is that light can be absorbed by material and converted to electricity,” Cruchon observed. “No material can operate efficiently in both indoor and outdoor settings, where the frequency ranges are different. Dracula Technologies chose to develop materials that are optimal for absorbing visible light, instead of ultraviolet or infrared ranges that occurs outdoors. This design decision sets Dracula Technologies apart from most other solutions.”
LAYER modules are made from a stack of organic layers, specially designed for an indoor environment. The materials are generally in the state of powder, which is transformed into solution by using appropriate green solvents and additives. The organic layers and the solvents are patented by Dracula Technologies. Software tools are used for design and support. Module designs are 100% digital, so no special equipment is needed for initial specifications or for modifications.
“Dracula Technologies quickly adapts its technology to customer specifications by using patented techniques to produce organic photovoltaic modules through inkjet printing,” Cruchon noted. “The technology is delivered as malleable modules that allow application developers to design small, connected eco-friendly objects in a variety of shapes.”
LAYER generates electricity with as little as 50 lux, which is the intensity of light emitted by emergency exit panels. Because the energy harvesting unit lasts 10 years, which is 1.7 times longer than a battery, less maintenance is required. The industrial process of digital printing makes it possible to conform to any imaginable shape. Additionally, using only carbon-based molecules and semiconducting polymers dissolved in non-halogenated solvents, the technology is highly recyclable.
“Most of the competing technologies use a combination of materials, each with different properties,” Cruchon said. “For example, they might use some combination of organic, inorganic, hybrid, and metallic materials. The different compounds are difficult to separate, which makes the recycling operation complex. By contrast, Dracula Technologies prints only functional plastic, which is routinely recycled.”
Because it is inkjetted, LAYER has excellent flexibility in terms of shape and size.
“Unique expertise in ink formulation and innovative manufacturing processes give Dracula Technologies a big competitive advantage,” Cruchon said. “The advantages of inkjetting the LAYER solution are high flexibility in design free shape design and production of small dimension modules.”
Key Markets for LAYER
Because LAYER can power any type of ultra-low power devices, devices such as IoTs, wearables and other electronics requesting ultra-low power might be considered.
“We target markets such as smart home, tracking, smart building, smart cards, industrial IoT and health,” said Cruchon, offering examples of three types of IoT applications: Smart Home, Smart Building and Asset Tracking.
“Smart Home applications involve several types of sensors of different sizes and shapes, and with different power requirements, including temperature sensors, smoke detectors, and poisonous gas sensors,” Cruchon said. “For home security, most Smart Home applications include motion sensors, door sensors, and cameras. For energy management, a Smart Home application might also include smart switches and smart sockets; and for access control it might include smart door locks that can be configured centrally.
“Smart Home applications could include other sensors and actuators to control light bulbs, refrigerators, shades and blinders, and air conditioners and heaters. They might also include sensors that detect water leakage,” he added.
“Smart Building applications may be bought and operated by a building owner,” Cruchon noted. “But more often, these kinds of solutions are offered as a service that is instead rented by the building owner. The service provider installs the sensors and actuators and controls the system remotely.
“Smart Building solutions include many of the same sensors and actuators as a Smart Home solution—and much more,” he observed. “More emphasis is placed on measuring and controlling energy use and on coordinating the subsystems that make up the overall solution. For example, motion detectors might be used to determine whether a room is empty and whether the climate can be adjusted.
“The third type of application to consider is Asset Tracking, which is used to track where pieces of equipment are at any time—and in the best case, to make predictions about when maintenance is needed,” Cruchon said. “These applications need a variety of robust sensors, specially fitted to the type of equipment being tracked. The sensors must continue to operate as the equipment is moved indoors and outdoors. The sensors themselves should require very little maintenance.”
Cruchon observed that in all three of these cases, the technology may be packaged as a service.
“The company who runs the services buys the equipment and installs it at the customer site,” Cruchon reported. “They control the equipment remotely and send technicians out periodically to change batteries in sensors and actuators. Anything that can be done to reduce the number of times a technician has to make a site visit will reduce overall maintenance costs.”
Cruchon reported that LAYER is commercially available, adding that it is easy for developers of indoor IoT applications to try LAYER.
“The developer sends specifications to Dracula Technologies, including the lighting environment, device size, energy profile, target lifetime, and integration details. We then map those specifications to an optimized design,” he noted.
“The manufacturing process of LAYER modules is perfectly suited for a pilot line. Thanks to a fully digitized process, no equipment adaptations are needed to fit a given design—and one week is all that's needed to produce a small series of any new design,” added Cruchon. “By contrast, other deposition techniques require equipment to be modified to a new design and more time is needed to produce an initial series.”
Developers can order a demo kit by going to dracula-technologies.com/demokit. Once the developer decides to use LAYER for their solution, they need little more than an inkjet printer and annealing equipment.
“Dracula Technologies provides the digital design of the image to print, which is based on the application specifications, and Dracula provides the ink formulation, which contains the patented material dissolved in a solvent,” Cruchon continued. “During the production phase, several OPV modules can be printed on a single A4-sized plastic sheet.
“After the first sheet is printed, annealing must be performed to evaporate the residual solvents and additives. Then a slightly different version of the design is printed on the same sheet to form a second layer. Annealing is repeated to evaporate the new layer of solvents and additives. One more layer is printed — also with a slightly different version of the design — and annealing is performed once again.”
Each of the three layers performs a different function. The main layer, called the active layer, absorbs light to generate both positive and negative charges. The active layer is sandwiched between two intermediate layers that help to extract the charges and store them. At least one of the two intermediate layers is semi-transparent to light to allow photons to pass through to the active layer.
Because the device is based on organic materials, it needs to be protected from oxygen, moisture, and mechanical stress. This is accomplished with encapsulation layers, which are added at the end of the production process. The encapsulation layers are what gives the modules life spans of more than 10 years in an indoor environment.
“Patented by Dracula Technologies, this innovative device structure uses only three printed layers and is perfectly suited for an indoor environment,” Cruchon concluded. “For applications that operate outdoors, other layers are added to extract more charge from natural light. LAYER can then be attached to connected devices in different ways, including soldering and the use of simple adhesives.”
Cruchon showed the LAYER technology at CES 2023, and reported the feedback was excellent.
“CES 2023 was a great opportunity for Dracula Technology to increase the visibility of our technology, show the potential of our solutions, and build relationships with partners along the way,” said Cruchon. “The company was honored to be featured in the prestigious Eureka Park section of the show, ‘the heart of CES.’
“At the show, there were many strong signals that energy harvesting is the way of the future, and companies like Dracula Technologies are at the forefront of this revolution,” he noted. “We showcased five different products using our OPV technology (LAYER), such as temperature loggers, autonomous CO2 sensors, and occupancy sensors, which are helping to reduce energy consumption and make our lives more efficient. With the continued development of these technologies, we can expect to see even more progress in the coming years.
“Dracula Technologies is a pioneer in harvesting energy from the light in our living spaces,” Cruchon concluded. “After ten years of research and with a clear business mindset, we are now entering the industrialization phase. We already have a production capacity of around 15 thousand modules per week, and by the end of 2023 we will scale up production capacity to ten million units per year. The company expects to reach revenues of €28 million by 2026.”
Brice Cruchon founded Dracula Technologies in 2011 and as CEO, he has positioned the company to support ultra-low power devices around the world. Today, more than 30 people are working for Dracula Technologies. During CES 2023, the Valence, French-based company showcased its LAYER® technology, which provides customizable eco-friendly modules to support the small and variable shaped objects needed for indoor IoT at a lower overall cost.
Cruchon pointed out that most connected devices today are powered with batteries, especially when they are deployed indoors, which is the case for about half of all IoT devices. But batteries have limited lifetimes and are built with toxic materials.
“Not only do they have to be changed to keep connected devices running, but they must also be thrown away, adding to a mounting pile of e-waste,” Cruchon noted.
Thanks to more than ten years of research and development, Dracula Technologies has found a new way of overcoming these challenges: an energy harvesting solution based on organic materials that absorb indoor light to power small devices. Dracula Technologies recently raised €5.5 million through French venture capitalists and Semtech Corporation, a leading global semiconductor supplier. The company was also selected by the European Innovation Council to receive a grant of €1.6 million and an additional €5 million in equity funding.
Technology Behind the LAYER OPV Solution
Cruchon pointed out that the company's LAYER technology is the only system that provides customizable eco-friendly modules to support the small and variable shaped objects needed for indoor IoT, and at a lower overall cost.
“The technology is based on the photovoltaic effect, which is that light can be absorbed by material and converted to electricity,” Cruchon observed. “No material can operate efficiently in both indoor and outdoor settings, where the frequency ranges are different. Dracula Technologies chose to develop materials that are optimal for absorbing visible light, instead of ultraviolet or infrared ranges that occurs outdoors. This design decision sets Dracula Technologies apart from most other solutions.”
LAYER modules are made from a stack of organic layers, specially designed for an indoor environment. The materials are generally in the state of powder, which is transformed into solution by using appropriate green solvents and additives. The organic layers and the solvents are patented by Dracula Technologies. Software tools are used for design and support. Module designs are 100% digital, so no special equipment is needed for initial specifications or for modifications.
“Dracula Technologies quickly adapts its technology to customer specifications by using patented techniques to produce organic photovoltaic modules through inkjet printing,” Cruchon noted. “The technology is delivered as malleable modules that allow application developers to design small, connected eco-friendly objects in a variety of shapes.”
LAYER generates electricity with as little as 50 lux, which is the intensity of light emitted by emergency exit panels. Because the energy harvesting unit lasts 10 years, which is 1.7 times longer than a battery, less maintenance is required. The industrial process of digital printing makes it possible to conform to any imaginable shape. Additionally, using only carbon-based molecules and semiconducting polymers dissolved in non-halogenated solvents, the technology is highly recyclable.
“Most of the competing technologies use a combination of materials, each with different properties,” Cruchon said. “For example, they might use some combination of organic, inorganic, hybrid, and metallic materials. The different compounds are difficult to separate, which makes the recycling operation complex. By contrast, Dracula Technologies prints only functional plastic, which is routinely recycled.”
Because it is inkjetted, LAYER has excellent flexibility in terms of shape and size.
“Unique expertise in ink formulation and innovative manufacturing processes give Dracula Technologies a big competitive advantage,” Cruchon said. “The advantages of inkjetting the LAYER solution are high flexibility in design free shape design and production of small dimension modules.”
Key Markets for LAYER
Because LAYER can power any type of ultra-low power devices, devices such as IoTs, wearables and other electronics requesting ultra-low power might be considered.
“We target markets such as smart home, tracking, smart building, smart cards, industrial IoT and health,” said Cruchon, offering examples of three types of IoT applications: Smart Home, Smart Building and Asset Tracking.
“Smart Home applications involve several types of sensors of different sizes and shapes, and with different power requirements, including temperature sensors, smoke detectors, and poisonous gas sensors,” Cruchon said. “For home security, most Smart Home applications include motion sensors, door sensors, and cameras. For energy management, a Smart Home application might also include smart switches and smart sockets; and for access control it might include smart door locks that can be configured centrally.
“Smart Home applications could include other sensors and actuators to control light bulbs, refrigerators, shades and blinders, and air conditioners and heaters. They might also include sensors that detect water leakage,” he added.
“Smart Building applications may be bought and operated by a building owner,” Cruchon noted. “But more often, these kinds of solutions are offered as a service that is instead rented by the building owner. The service provider installs the sensors and actuators and controls the system remotely.
“Smart Building solutions include many of the same sensors and actuators as a Smart Home solution—and much more,” he observed. “More emphasis is placed on measuring and controlling energy use and on coordinating the subsystems that make up the overall solution. For example, motion detectors might be used to determine whether a room is empty and whether the climate can be adjusted.
“The third type of application to consider is Asset Tracking, which is used to track where pieces of equipment are at any time—and in the best case, to make predictions about when maintenance is needed,” Cruchon said. “These applications need a variety of robust sensors, specially fitted to the type of equipment being tracked. The sensors must continue to operate as the equipment is moved indoors and outdoors. The sensors themselves should require very little maintenance.”
Cruchon observed that in all three of these cases, the technology may be packaged as a service.
“The company who runs the services buys the equipment and installs it at the customer site,” Cruchon reported. “They control the equipment remotely and send technicians out periodically to change batteries in sensors and actuators. Anything that can be done to reduce the number of times a technician has to make a site visit will reduce overall maintenance costs.”
Cruchon reported that LAYER is commercially available, adding that it is easy for developers of indoor IoT applications to try LAYER.
“The developer sends specifications to Dracula Technologies, including the lighting environment, device size, energy profile, target lifetime, and integration details. We then map those specifications to an optimized design,” he noted.
“The manufacturing process of LAYER modules is perfectly suited for a pilot line. Thanks to a fully digitized process, no equipment adaptations are needed to fit a given design—and one week is all that's needed to produce a small series of any new design,” added Cruchon. “By contrast, other deposition techniques require equipment to be modified to a new design and more time is needed to produce an initial series.”
Developers can order a demo kit by going to dracula-technologies.com/demokit. Once the developer decides to use LAYER for their solution, they need little more than an inkjet printer and annealing equipment.
“Dracula Technologies provides the digital design of the image to print, which is based on the application specifications, and Dracula provides the ink formulation, which contains the patented material dissolved in a solvent,” Cruchon continued. “During the production phase, several OPV modules can be printed on a single A4-sized plastic sheet.
“After the first sheet is printed, annealing must be performed to evaporate the residual solvents and additives. Then a slightly different version of the design is printed on the same sheet to form a second layer. Annealing is repeated to evaporate the new layer of solvents and additives. One more layer is printed — also with a slightly different version of the design — and annealing is performed once again.”
Each of the three layers performs a different function. The main layer, called the active layer, absorbs light to generate both positive and negative charges. The active layer is sandwiched between two intermediate layers that help to extract the charges and store them. At least one of the two intermediate layers is semi-transparent to light to allow photons to pass through to the active layer.
Because the device is based on organic materials, it needs to be protected from oxygen, moisture, and mechanical stress. This is accomplished with encapsulation layers, which are added at the end of the production process. The encapsulation layers are what gives the modules life spans of more than 10 years in an indoor environment.
“Patented by Dracula Technologies, this innovative device structure uses only three printed layers and is perfectly suited for an indoor environment,” Cruchon concluded. “For applications that operate outdoors, other layers are added to extract more charge from natural light. LAYER can then be attached to connected devices in different ways, including soldering and the use of simple adhesives.”
Cruchon showed the LAYER technology at CES 2023, and reported the feedback was excellent.
“CES 2023 was a great opportunity for Dracula Technology to increase the visibility of our technology, show the potential of our solutions, and build relationships with partners along the way,” said Cruchon. “The company was honored to be featured in the prestigious Eureka Park section of the show, ‘the heart of CES.’
“At the show, there were many strong signals that energy harvesting is the way of the future, and companies like Dracula Technologies are at the forefront of this revolution,” he noted. “We showcased five different products using our OPV technology (LAYER), such as temperature loggers, autonomous CO2 sensors, and occupancy sensors, which are helping to reduce energy consumption and make our lives more efficient. With the continued development of these technologies, we can expect to see even more progress in the coming years.
“Dracula Technologies is a pioneer in harvesting energy from the light in our living spaces,” Cruchon concluded. “After ten years of research and with a clear business mindset, we are now entering the industrialization phase. We already have a production capacity of around 15 thousand modules per week, and by the end of 2023 we will scale up production capacity to ten million units per year. The company expects to reach revenues of €28 million by 2026.”
