Simultaneous reception of solar power and visible light communication using a solar cell

Solar cells are widely used in various applications. However, they are only used to harvest solar power. We propose and demonstrate a technique to use a solar cell as a simultaneous receiver of solar power and visible light communication (VLC) signals. First, we investigate the optic-to-electric conversion efficiency and the frequency response of a solar cell. Then, we demonstrate that a solar cell receiver can receive both solar power and VLC signals simultaneously. We also investigate the effect of solar power interference on the VLC performance. The results show that the VLC operation is successful even when the solar power is the maximum.