If I read the article correctly, the company has put logic onto a collection of solar cells. Doesn’t it make more sense to separate the two functions into independent devices? I don’t understand what’s novel about what they’ve done or why it might have advantages over the conventional approach of putting solar cells onto a system with batteries, logic, sensors, and actuators.
That was my question, too.
Apparently, it's this:
Sol Chip claims that there has been no known company in the semiconductor industry that has successfully integrated solar cells within the standard chip manufacturing process in a cost effective way.
Heretofore, SOLAR CELLS and LOGIC CHIPS have been two distinct beasts. They've figured out how to make ONE chip that is both.
“Doesn’t it make more sense to separate the two functions into independent devices?”
does not require as much juice sending energy or info between functions (energy creation or logic) when both are embeded and integrated on the same chip and I would imagine the biggest gains would be in “gangs” of such chips on the same “integrated circuit board”, in essence placing multiple chip/devices, and both logic and energy, in the same phsical device/board.