Energy Harvesting Forum

Energy Harvesting Info & Resources
for the Power Electronics Industry.

White Paper

Energy Harvesting for a Green Internet of Things

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Executive Summary (click to expand)

This white paper is recommended for everyone dealing with energy harvesting; business leaders world-wide can increase their understanding of the cost and benefits of maintenance-free power supplies. Representatives of environment protection institutions can appreciate the key role of energy harvesting technology. Journalists can learn about a representative set of use cases for reliable and autonomous operation. Decision makers are provided with essential information that allows them to assess the potential of energy harvesting in a given Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Engineers are confronted by the key challenges for future deployment, and researchers explore the need for innovation advancement beyond conceptual technology demonstrations.

This white paper has been prepared by an enthusiastic team devoted to energy harvesting solutions for a green internet of things. The work has been performed on a voluntary basis under the umbrella of the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA). The composition of the team ranges from scientists, engineers, and small to medium enterprise representatives to industrial stakeholders, offers a broad range of insights into the world of energy harvesting. The key conclusion is that energy harvesting technology has already achieved, in practice and in real environments, the required power density for energy autonomous wireless sensors, as demonstrated in several bespoke use cases. Industry is cautious and slow in adoption of the new solutions due to the requirement for application-specific power supply design for each use case. A turn-key solution with guaranteed functionality and reliability is an essential requirement of industrial users and forms a key missing element in energy harvesting. The high economic and environmental advantage of energy autonomy; due to functionality, maintenance, reliability, and low waste/pollution benefits; makes it essential to sustainable IoT. Addressing these key missing elements, through targeted scientific focus and investment by the environment and technology stakeholders, is a topmost priority.

For the convenience of the interested reader, the content is divided into five sections: Section 1 tours different harvesting device types – able to transfer ambient into electrical energy – focusing on operational concept, performance, and shape. The use cases in Section 2 describe the procedure of developing energy autonomy solutions for Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) nodes, including several representative application examples. A critical review of missing aspects for rapid industrial adoption is given in Section 3. Cost-benefit analysis and life-cycle assessments studies are provided in Section 4, revealing the key role of energy. The future research needs are outlined in Section 5, offering a holistic view of the innovation potential of energy harvesting toward a green Internet of Things.

Lead Editors: Thomas Becker, Michail E. Kiziroglou

Chapter Editors: Thomas Becker, Maeve Duffy, Bahareh Zaghari, Michail E. Kiziroglou

PSMA: Mike Hayes, Brian Zahnstecher

Authors:

Name

Affiliation

Place

Becker, Thomas

thobecore consulting & research

Bremen Area, Germany

Borjesson, Viktor

ReVibe Energy

Gotenburg, Sweden

Cetinkaya, Oktay

University of Sheffield

Sheffield, United Kingdom

Chen, Baoxing

Analog Devices

Wilmington, USA

Colomer-Farrarons, Jordi

University of Barcelona

Barcelona, Spain

Duffy, Maeve

National University of Ireland

Galway, Ireland

Elefsiniotis, Alexandros

-/-

Munich, Germany

Govoni, Leonardo

AED Engineering

Munich, Germany

Hadas, Zdenek

Brno University of Technology

Brno, Czechia

Hayes, Mike

Tyndall National Institute

Cork, Ireland

Holmes, Andrew S.

Imperial College London

London, United Kingdom

Kiziroglou, Michail E.

Imperial College London

London, United Kingdom

La Rosa, Roberto

ST Microelectronics & Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

Catania, Italy & Lausanne, Switzerland

Miribel-Català, Pedro

University of Barcelona

Barcelona, Spain

Mueller, Jan

Airbus

Hamburg, Germany

Pandiyan, Akshayaa

Imperial College London

London, United Kingdom

Plasek, Otto

Brno University of Technology

Brno, Czechia

Riehl, Patrick

Analog Devices

Wilmington, USA

Rohan, James

Tyndall National Institute

Cork, Ireland

Sabaté, Neus

Fuelium

Bellaterra, Spain

Saez, Manuel

AED Engineering

Munich, Germany

Samson, Dominik

Elatec

Puchheim, Germany

Sebald, Johannes

Ariane Group

Bremen, Germany

Spies, Peter

Fraunhofer IIS

Erlangen, Germany

Vikerfors, Andreas

ReVibe Energy

Gotenburg, Sweden

Yeatman, Eric M.

Imperial College London

London, United Kingdom

Zaghari, Bahareh

Cranfield University

Cranfield, United Kingdom

Zahnstecher, Brian

PowerRox

San Jose, United States

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