Ambient energy harvesting is also known as energy scavenging or power harvesting, and it is the process where energy is obtained from the environment. A variety of techniques are available for energy scavenging, including solar and wind powers, ocean waves, piezoelectricity, ther-moelectricity, and physical motions. For example , some systems convert random motions, including ocean waves, into useful electrical energy that can be used by oceanographic monitoring wireless sensor nodes for autonomous surveillance. Ambient energy sources are classified as energy reservoirs, power distribution methods, or power-scavenging methods, which may enable portable or wireless systems to be completely battery independent and self sustaining. The students from different disciplines, such as industrial technology, construction, design and development and electronics, investigated the effectiveness of ambient energy as a source of power. After an extensive literature review, students summarized each potential ambient energy source and explained future energy-harvesting systems to generate or produce electrical energy as a support to conventional energy storage devices. This article investigates recent studies about potential ambient energy-harvesting sources and systems. Introduction Today, sustaining the power requirement for autonomous wireless and portable devices is an important issue. In the recent past, energy storage has improved significantly. However, this progress has not been able to keep up with the development of microprocessors, memory storage , and wireless technology applications. For example, in wireless sensor networks, battery-powered sensors and modules are expected to last for a long period of time. However, conducting battery maintenance for a large-scale network consisting of hundreds or even thousands of sensor nodes may be difficult, if not impossible. Ambient power sources, as a replacement for batteries, come into consideration to minimize the maintenance and the cost of operation. Power scavenging may enable wireless and portable electronic devices to be completely self-sustaining, so that battery maintenance can

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ888131.pdf

Potential Ambient Energy-Harvesting Sources and Techniques.

As microscale devices, such as wireless microsensors and noninvasive biomedical implants, continue to shrink and incorporate more functions, energy becomes scarce, thereby shortening operation life. Furthermore, the limited volume space available constrains the stored energy available in state-of-the-art microbattery technologies, such as thin-film lithium ion (Li Ion). For long-lasting life, it is, therefore, necessary to replenish continuously the energy consumed by harnessing, storing, and delivering energy from the environment in situ, i.e., in the package, alongside the application electronics. Operation life would ultimately be independent from storage limitations. The proposed self-contained, system-in-package solution is composed of three different energy-harvesting sources (light, vibrations, and thermal gradients) that sustain the system, while a charger stores the harnessed energy into an in-package Li Ion. Since substantially low-power levels are expected, the sensor must minimize energy consu...

/pdf/energy-harvesting-system-in-package-microsystem-21fm8czht8.pdf

Energy-Harvesting System-in-Package Microsystem

An integrated photovoltaic cell and battery device, a method of manufacturing the same and a photovoltaic power system incorporating the integrated photovoltaic cell and battery device. The integrated photovoltaic cell and battery device includes a photovoltaic cell, a battery, and interconnects providing three-dimensional integration of the photovoltaic cell and the battery into an integrated device for capturing and storing solar energy. Also provided is a design structure readable by a machine to simulate, design, or manufacture the above integrated photovoltaic cell and battery device.

Solar cell and battery 3d integration

The need for smaller lightweight autonomous power systems has recently increased with the increasing focus on micro- and nanosatellites Small area high-efficiency thin film batteries and solar cells are an attractive choice for such applications The NASA Glenn Research Center, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Lithium Power Technologies, MicroSat Systems, and others, have been working on the development of autonomous monolithic packages combining these elements or what are called integrated power supplies (IPS) These supplies can be combined with individual satellite components and are capable of providing continuous power even under intermittent illumination associated with a spinning or Earth orbiting satellite This paper discusses the space mission applicability, benefits, and current development efforts associated with integrated power supply components and systems The characteristics and several mission concepts for an IPS that combines thin-film photovoltaic power generation with thin-film lithium ion energy storage are described Based on this preliminary assessment, it is concluded that the most likely and beneficial application of an IPS will be for small "nanosatellites" or in specialized applications serving as a decentralized or as a distributed power source or uninterruptible power supply

/pdf/mission-applicability-assessment-of-integrated-power-mi17s6wmxo.pdf

Mission applicability assessment of integrated power components and systems

Modern electronics continue to push past boundaries of integration and functional density, towards the elusive completely autonomous self-powered microchip. As systems continue to shrink, however, less energy is available on-board, leading to short device lifetime (runtime or battery life). Research continues to develop higher energy-density batteries but the amount of energy available is not only finite but also low, limiting the system's lifespan, which is paramount in portable electronics. Extended life is also particularly advantageous in systems with limited accessibility, such as biomedical implants and structure-embedded micro-sensors. The ultimate long-lasting solution should therefore be independent of the limited energy available during start-up, which is where a self-renewing energy source comes in, continually replenishing the energy consumed by the micro-system.

/pdf/energy-harvesting-chips-and-the-quest-for-everlasting-life-2uv4455d1p.pdf

Energy-harvesting chips and the quest for everlasting life

We are developing lightweight devices that are capable of solar energy conversion and storage. These integrated power supplies (IPS) incorporate photovoltaic power generation with thin-film lithium ion energy storage. Lithium ion devices with large energy densities and long cycling lifetimes are ideal for this application. The techniques used to fabricate the solar cell and battery component films are compatible and scalable. These devices can be designed to fulfill a wide variety of electrical power requirements and are ideal for use with multi-chip modules (MCM) and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) for nanosatellites. They provide both the operating power when illuminated and the “stay alive” power during eclipse. We will discuss the design and characterization of the materials used in these devices. The characterization of the devices under simulated lowearth orbit and AM0 illumination will also be presented.

Jason Underwood

Papers

Integrated solar power systems