The Energy Harvesting Tipping Point for Wireless Sensor Applications

In recent years, energy harvesting technology has become more sophisticated and efficient, and energy storage technologies, such as supercapacitors and thin-film batteries (TFBs), have become more cost-effective. In addition, sophisticated low-power integrated circuits are now available to perform useful functions in energy harvesting applications. such as algorithmic control and wireless communications using tiny amounts of energy. We have now reached a technological tipping point that will result in the evolution of energy-harvesting-based systems from today's niche products. such as calculators and wrist watches, to their widespread deployment in building automation, security systems, embedded controls, agriculture, infrastructure monitoring, asset management and medical monitoring systems. The wireless sensor node is one of the most important product types poised for growth as an energy-harvesting solution. Wireless sensors are ubiquitous and attractive products to implement using harvested energy. Running mains power to wireless sensors is often neither possible nor convenient, and, since wireless sensor nodes are commonly placed in hard-to-reach locations, changing batteries regularly can be costly and inconvenient. This presentation will discuss how to implement wireless sensors powered by harvested energy coupled with ultra-low-power, single-chip wireless microcontrollers (MCUs) that use sophisticated power management techniques.