A combination of MicroGen Systems' BOLT 060, a MEMS-based piezoelectric vibrational energy harvester (PZEH) micro-power generator, and Infinite Power Solutions' Energy Harvesting Evaluation Kit, THINERGY IPS-EVAL-EH-01, has powered-up an entire wireless sensor board at the Sensors Expo and Tradeshow 2011 conducted in Rosemont, Illinois.
At the show, MicroGen Systems' BOLT 060 is the first commercial grade MEMS-based PZEH demonstrated at low acceleration and frequency levels. The IPS-EVAL-EH-01 receives energy from various energy harvesting transducers, including both DC and AC charge sources. It stores the energy effectively in a special kind of postage stamp-sized thin-film battery called THINERGY MEC101 solid-state micro-energy cell (MEC).
The almost-loss-less energy storage equipment, THINERGY MEC101 can receive charge current below 1 µA, enabling it suitable for energy harvesting purposes. The IPS-EVAL-EH-01 also features Maxim Integrated Products' energy harvesting power management integrated circuit, the MAX17710 that offers an optional input voltage boost circuit. The MAX1771 controls the battery's charge voltage and offers programmable output voltage to power the load.
Texas Instruments' wireless temperature sensor demo called the ez430-RF2500 was utilized during the demonstration as the load. It has CC2500 2.4GHz radio transceivers and an in-built MSP430 microcontroller to transfer temperature data.
According to the President and Chief Technology Officer of MicroGen, Robert Andosca, the company's BOLT micro-power generator products will stop the necessity of replacing dead batteries repetitively in wireless sensor nodes and networks. The company has now exhibited economical and effective solutions that can be provided to speed up the installation of self-powered wireless sensor networks, he added.
The Vice President of Marketing at Infinite Power Solutions, Tim Bradow commented that the company is happy to offer its simple-to-use, effective energy storage solution to MicroGen's low power energy harvesters.
Source: http://www.microgensystems.com