IEEE ACCESS SPECIAL SECTION EDITORIAL: Energy Harvesting and Scavenging: Technologies, Algorithms, and Communication Protocols

The operation of modern electronic communication devices relies on constant energy sources such as DC power, obtained from AC sources via AC to DC conversion, or small chargeable/replaceable batteries. However, in some cases, providing constant energy sources may not be feasible. Advanced energy harvesting technologies can be used to power up modern day electronic communication devices [item 1) in the Appendix]. These energy harvesting technologies rely on energy sources naturally present in the environment, such as solar energy, wind energy, and heat [item 2) in the Appendix]. Moreover, energy can also be acquired from the movement of different parts of the human body such as legs (walking), heart (beating) and arms (swinging), just to name a few. All these energy harvesting technologies and techniques may satisfy the need of energy for low power communication devices and may enable the charging of electronic mobile devices anywhere and at any time [item 3) in the Appendix]. © 2013 IEEE.