ENERGY HARVESTING

Energy harvesting concerns the capture and conversion of ambient energy sources (e.g. thermal and kinetic) into electrical energy. It is typically used to power autonomous electronic systems to replace or extend the life of batteries. Electronics and Computer Science of the University of Southampton has been leading the field of energy harvesting for over 15 years.

1995

• First energy harvesting proposal submitted

1999

• First energy harvesting project funded by EPSRC

2000

• Thick-film piezoelectric energy harvester demonstrated

• First electromagnetic energy harvester

2004

• EU FP6 funded VIBES project

• Formed Perpetuum Ltd

2006

• Autonomous wireless sensor node powered by vibration electromagnetic energy harvester presented

• EPSRC project Highly-efficient Thermoelectric Power Harvesting

2008

• EU FP7 funded TRIADE project

• Frequency tunable vibration energy harvester presented

2009

• EPSRC funded HOLISTIC project

• Credit card sized wireless sensor node powered by vibration piezoelectric energy harvester presented

• Modular plug-and-play power resources for energy-aware wireless sensor nodes presented

2010

• EU FP7 funded TIBUCON Project

• EPSRC funded Energy Harvesting on Fabrics project

• Host UK Energy Harvesting Networks

• Artwork in the vitrine of the ROPEMAKER building in London, powered by airflow energy harvesters

2011

• Ultra low-power photovoltaic MPPT technique developed

2012

• EU FP7 funded CEWITT Project

• Autonomous wireless sensor node powered by frequency tunable vibration energy harvester operated on Red Funnel ferries

• Holistic energy harvesting design explorer and simulation toolkit available online

• Wireless environmental sensor deployed in office and residential buildings powered by solar cell

2013

• TSB funded ENERGYMAN project

• EPSRC funded SPHERE project

• Co-organised PowerMEMS

• Co-organised ENSSys

• Coupled bistable vibration energy harvester

• Human-powered 2-DOF energy harvester

• Series of energy harvesters on fabrics presented, including:

Thermogenerator

Flexible coil for wireless power transfer

For more details contact:

Professor Steve Beeby
Electronics and Computer Science
University of Southampton
Email: spb@ecs.soton.ac.uk

University of Southampton | Electronics and Computer Science | Electronics and Electrical Engineering | Pervasive Systems Centre

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