Arrow Develops the Evaluation with Energy Harvesting Radio Boards

Published:2012/3/13 4:13:00 Author:Li xiao na From:SeekIC

Self-powered wireless sensors can operate with ambient energy such as solar. Small solar panels and Peltier cells are ideal for the harvesting mechanisms for use in smart building sensor networks. The solar panel is used to assist the batteries of small devices such as calculators and watches.

By exploiting the movement of charge carriers across a temperature gradient, the peltier cells can convert heat energy into electrical energy. We also can collect the other harvestable forms of energy from vibration or mechanical actions. In recent years, the typical efficiency of solar cells has increased. Meanwhile, the small wireless systems utilize the technologies such as IEEE 802.15.4 2.4GHz radio and ZigBee or proprietary wireless networking protocols.

A few solar cells or peltier element can be charged fully in a short period. Charging an electrolytic capacitor can store the energy. The combination of an energy harvesting network, storage capacitor, and low-power wireless subsystem is ideal for applications in which small packets of data are transmitted at infrequent intervals.

Sensing environmental factors, such as temperature or light, becomes more and more important, for it is stable. Arrow Electronics has developed an evaluation kit which contains two energy harvesting radio boards. The 2.4 GHz radio of these two boards allows them to act as network nodes. As a third board, the USB-powered receiver combines with a PC acting as the controller and instrument panel for the network. With a single photovoltaic cell, the DC/DC converter is optimised for use. The startup voltage is 250mA. The Peltier operates from an input as low as ±30mV and has proprietary auto-polarity allowing it to gain energy even if the temperature difference is less than ±1°C. The 680µF electrolytic capacitor of the energy harvesting board can be used to store the energy.

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