ALD’s Energy Harvesting Modules Address Wireless Sensor Networks March 2007 Issue Published Date: March 05, 2007
Announced as the industry’s first energy harvesting modules to supply power to wireless sensor networks, the EH300 and EH301 EPAD modules accept energy from an array of waste energy sources such as vibration, light, chemical reaction, fluid and air flow, heat, and others. The modules store this energy to power conventional 1.8V and 5.0V circuits and systems such as wireless sensor networks designed to the ZigBee standard. Self powered, the modules are always in active mode and ready to harvest energy. They begin operating from 0.0V and operate at zero power to ensure that even small energy charges are captured. Additionally, they can store and manage the energy for extended periods of time with minimal leakage or loss. The EH300 series operates with input voltages ranging from 0.0 to ±500 Vac or Vdc and input currents from 200 nA to 400 mA. The EH300A is a 4.6-mJ module for 1.8V to 3.6V operation to support ZigBee transmissions. Energy output is 30 mJ. The EH301 series supports 3V to 5V circuits and delivers outputs up to 8.3 mJ for 3.1V to 5.2V operation. Useful energy output is 55 mJ. Pricing starts at $36.54 each/1,000. ADVANCED LINEAR DEVICES INC., Sunnyvale, CA. (408) 747-1155.
