Energy Recovery Techniques for Powering IoT Sensors

published by Marketing Mkt in março 24, 2022março 24, 2022

The rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) has accelerated strong interest in the development of low-power wireless sensors. Currently, wireless sensors are integrated into IoT systems to collect information in a reliable and practical way, with the aim of monitoring processes and control activities in various niches, such as: transport, energy, civil infrastructure, smart buildings, environmental monitoring, health care, defense, among others.[1]

The long-term and self-sustaining operation of these IoT devices should be considered early on, when the project is still in its early stages. Traditionally, wireless sensors have often been powered by batteries, which, while allowing for low overall system costs, can negatively affect the lifespan and performance of the entire network in which they are used. A solution to this type of problem is the implementation of energy recovery technologies.[1]

“Energy recovery” is the term used to designate the process by which part of the energy from a primary source, essentially, can be recovered in the form of another type of energy, usually electrical. Generally, this energy is recovered and used to power electronic devices intended for low power or extreme low power applications.[2]

Energy sources for most applications are: kinetic energy in the form of force, displacements or vibrations, thermal energy where there is a temperature gradient, energy in the form of incident light, and electromagnetic waves. The method for transforming these energies will depend on the applications [3], [4], [5], [6] :

I. Vibrations: There is a lot of interest in using piezoelectric MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) to obtain energy from the environment and transfer it to some type of load.

II. Hot springs: Some applications are carried out with pyroelectric cells based on PZT (lead zirconate titanate) and PVDF (polyvinylidene).

III. Solar: Power management devices integrated into solar panels.

IV. Radiofrequency electromagnetic sources: The use of a special type of antennas called right, has been gaining a lot of space within engineering. With them, it is possible to recover energy through electromagnetic waves.

As energy sources in nature are very diverse, so are the applications and methods of transformation. Energy recovery techniques, systems and processes are expanding more and more and becoming more attractive for the most diverse applications, as they reduce polluting emissions to nature, reuse an energy source already in use and reduce final project costs. .

References

[1] Sanislav, Teodora, et al. “Energy harvesting techniques for internet of things (IoT).” IEEE Access 9 (2021): 39530-39549.

[2] Zeadally, Sherali, et al. “Design architectures for energy harvesting in the Internet of Things.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 128 (2020): 109901.

[3] Harb, Adnan. “Energy harvesting: State-of-the-art.” Renewable Energy 36.10 (2011): 2641-2654.

[4] Shafique, Kinza, et al. “Energy harvesting using a low-cost rectenna for Internet of Things (IoT) applications.” IEEE access 6 (2018): 30932-30941.

[5] Eltresy, Nermeen A., et al. “Smart home IoT system by using RF energy harvesting.” Journal of Sensors 2020 (2020).

[6] Kim, Sang-Gook, Shashank Priya, and Isaku Kanno. “Piezoelectric MEMS for energy harvesting.” MRS bulletin 37.11 (2012): 1039-1050.