Energy Harvesting Technologies for Low-Power Devices

Abstract

The rising exponential rate of low-power electronic devices, such as wireless sensors, wearable electronics, and IoT systems, has exacerbated the need of sustainable and autonomous sources of energy. Traditional battery-based power systems tend to have capacity constraints, lifetime constraints, and maintenance constraints, thus researchers have looked into energy harvesting (EH) technologies as an alternative power source. This paper survey recent developments in energy harvesting schemes- including solar, thermal, vibrational, piezoelectric and radio-frequency (RF) sources- and their viability to low-power devices. It focuses on the system integration, energy conversion efficiency, and scalability under operations in real world. The review indicates the promise of hybrid EH systems to increase the lifespan of the operation of devices coupled with a reduced environmental impact. Empirical experiments show that self-sustaining operation of a wide range of low-power applications can be facilitated by optimized EH solutions but that there are still issues associated with energy intermittency, storage, and resource constraints. The proposed study will offer a broad framework to researchers and practitioners who want to adopt EH technologies in next-generation low-power electronics.