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Energy harvesting technologies for low‐power electronics
Author(s) -
Alvarado U.,
Juanicorena A.,
Adin I.,
Sedano B.,
Gutiérrez I.,
Nó J.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
transactions on emerging telecommunications technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.366
H-Index - 47
ISSN - 2161-3915
DOI - 10.1002/ett.2529
Subject(s) - battery (electricity) , energy harvesting , electronics , wireless sensor network , node (physics) , electrical engineering , sensor node , computer science , wireless , power (physics) , power electronics , electronic circuit , energy supply , energy (signal processing) , energy consumption , key distribution in wireless sensor networks , embedded system , telecommunications , engineering , computer network , wireless network , voltage , statistics , physics , mathematics , structural engineering , quantum mechanics
ABSTRACT Power consumption is one of the most critical issues when designing low‐cost electronic devices, such as sensing nodes in wireless sensor networks. To support their operation, such systems usually contain a battery; however, when the battery has consumed all its energy, the node (e.g. the sensor) must be retrieved and the battery replaced. If the node is located in a remote and non‐accessible placement, battery replacement can become an expensive (and even impossible) task. This way, energy harvesting has emerged as a suitable alternative to supply low‐power electronic systems, by converting ambient energy into electric power. Scavenged energy can be used to directly supply the circuits, or stored to be used when needed. This paper summarises the power needs of a general wireless sensor node and describes the main principles of most representative energy harvesting technologies. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.