Human-centered solar smart technology design for healthy aging (SOL-TECH)

The ‘Human-centered solar smart technology design for healthy aging’ (SOL-TECH) project, funded by Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, is an initiative based at Tampere University coordinated by Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (Paola Vivo) and involves researchers from Faculties of Social Sciences (Johanna Ruusuvuori, Marja Kaunonen), and Built Environment (Sofie Pelsmakers).

SOL-TECH tackles the key issues related to the independent aging at home of the older population, which are closely linked to the risk of falling, the main cause of injury and death for older adults. The highly multidisciplinary consortium of SOL-TECH proposes a socio-technical approach that re-thinks, and co-creates with older adults the already existing fall prevention/monitoring technology and transforms it into a user-friendly and sustainable product powered by cutting-edge photovoltaic technology.

“The technological objective of SOL-TECH is to co-design and develop solar-powered smart tags and sensors that can be integrated into home environments to prevent and monitor falling, hence supporting the independent living of the aging population and improving the quality of life, while powered by clean energy harnessed from indoor light.” says project coordinator Associate Professor Paola Vivo. SOL-TECH technology leverages perovskite solar cells (PSCs), as they are among the most promising hybrid solar cell technologies to date. This new collaborative project aims at advancing stability and sustainability issues of flexible PSC, thus bringing current PSCs research at TAU to higher maturity level while increasing its social impact by supporting healthy aging and sustainable living. Together with older people and their carers the project will study the use, needs, home quality, fall risks, technology opportunities, and barriers in the home environment through ethnographic observation and in-depth interviews and architectural mapping. Solutions will be co-developed and prototyped with participants in co-design workshops and their home environments and usability, suitability, and acceptance of the prototypes as well as their in-situ performance will be studied in different home environments. There will be an exhibition of the developed products and findings to maximize societal impact.

If you want to know more about our project, please visit our website here.

SOL-TECH's main goal is to co-design and develop solar-powered smart tags and sensors that can be integrated into home environments to prevent and monitor falling, hence supporting the independent living of the aging population and improving the quality of life, while powered by clean energy harnessed from indoor light.

This project's main impact is the creation of new knowledge and sustainable product development 
as scientific innovations and contributions. At the same time, the project directly supports older adults to live at their own home for longer and to improve their quality of life and living (related to reducing fall risk) in a way that is user-driven, environmentally sustainable, and accepted by them as users.

Longer term scientific and collaborative impact comes from further new product development and prototyping to support health and well-being (e.g., thermal, visual, and auditory comfort). 

The Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation

Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Associate Professor Paola Vivo.

Associate Professor Paola Vivo
+358 44 3407081
paola.vivo [at] tuni.fi