Harvesting energy an sustainable power source, replace batteries for powering WSN and devices on the IoT

• Published in: IOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering Vol. 200; no. 1; pp. 12043 - 12051
• Main Authors: Pop-Vadean, A, Pop, P P, Latinovic, T, Barz, C, Lung, C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.05.2017
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Cables; Electronic devices; Energy harvesting; Energy resources; Maintenance costs; Power management; Power sources; Wireless sensor networks
• ISSN: 1757-8981; 1757-899X
• DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/200/1/012043

Harvesting energy from nonconventional sources in the environment has received increased attention over the past decade from researchers who study these alternative energy sources for low power applications. Although that energy harvested is small and in the order of milliwatt, it can provide enough power for wireless sensors and other low-power applications. In the environment there is a lot of wasted energy that can be converted into electricity to power the various circuits and represents a potentially cheap source of power. Energy harvesting is important because it offers an alternative power supply for electronic devices where is does not exist conventional energy sources. This technology applied in a wireless sensor network (WSN) and devices on the IoT, will eliminate the need for network-based energy and conventional batteries, will minimize maintenance costs, eliminate cables and batteries and is ecological. It has the same advantage in applications from remote locations, underwater, and other hard to reach places where conventional batteries and energy are not suitable. Energy harvesting will promote environmentally friendly technologies that will save energy, will reduce CO2 emissions, which makes this technology indispensable for achieving next-generation smart cities and sustainable society. In response to the challenges of energy, in this article we remind the basics of harvesting energy and we discuss the various applications of this technology where traditional batteries cannot be used.