Energy scavenging system utilising MEMS switch for power management

• DOI: 10.1049/el.2012.1748
• Publication Date: 2012-07-20T07:23:48Z
• Authors: K.-J. Park; S.-M. Kang; H.S. Kim; C.-W. Baek; T.K. Chung
• Keywords: 0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering; 02 engineering and technology; 7. Clean energy

A novel light energy scavenging system is presented, which employs a MEMS switch as the gate driver of a MOSFET in a power management circuit, for scavenging energy in ultra-low light condition. Measurements show that, in a 5lx illumination condition, the wireless temperature sensor node powered by a palm-size solar cell array can autonomously transmit RF data to a receiver 20 m away every 9 minutes. The experimental results demonstrate the most sensitive energy scavenging system ever reported, and offer great potential for realising practical self-sustaining wireless devices.