Energy Harvesting Gets Powerful
August 13, 2015 | Dr Peter Harrop, IDTechExEstimated reading time: 1 minute
The term 'energy harvesting' is most typically applied to powering small electronic devices using say sunshine, vibration or temperature. However, the same technologies are used in heavy engineering, such as large construction vehicles converting the rotational and vertical braking energy of their implements into electricity.
There are the very successful forms of energy harvesting and there are the basketcases of negligible commercial success - little more than research curiosities. However, many new developments are being made to enable high power energy harvesting which will result in an industry worth $3.4 billion in 2020 for energy harvesting transducers.
The new IDTechEx Research report Energy Harvesting: Off-grid Renewable Power for Devices, Vehicles, Structures 2015-2025 External Link assesses the global picture of energy harvesting from microwatts to tens of kilowatts.
The research finds that energy harvesting is increasingly using the same technology, often from the same companies, whether it is generating one microwatt for sensors to vehicle battery charging from harvesting that can reach many kilowatts. It is all one business now but, for the coming decade, the largest addressable value market lies in the range of one watt to 10 kW.
It has always been true that the favourite technologies are electrodynamics and photovoltaics. However, the users for low versus high power were different and the other harvesting technologies were rarely capable of generating high power. No more. Major recent advances move them firmly into the high power sector.
Recent announcements concerning electret and elastomeric capacitive harvesting promise up to one kilowatt. Thermoelectric generators up to 1.5 kW are being tested and performance improvement boosted by the new skutterudites. Transparent thermoelectrics capable of wide area also promises high power levels. The new perovskite photovoltaics has suddenly achieved efficiency of almost double that which organic photovoltaics has struggled up to after about 20 years.
As for the users, the increased focus on vehicles and off-grid buildings means that a given user is interested in everything from providing micro-grid electricity to wirelessly powering a plethora of sensors and actuators in situ.
Energy Harvesting: Off-grid Renewable Power for Devices, Vehicles, Structures 2015-2025 External Link provides detailed market forecasts and technology and market appraisal. It is based almost entirely on interviews, conferences, visits and searches conducted by IDTechEx Research.
Suggested Items
IDC Forecasts Slower Growth for Global Telecommunications Services Market: Could AI Help Telcos to Maintain Healthy Margins?
05/08/2024 | IDCWorldwide spending on Telecom Services and Pay TV Services reached $1,509 billion in 2023, an increase of 2.1% over 2022, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Semiannual Telecom Services Tracker.
Simbe Partners with Plexus to Scale Manufacturing and Meet Global Retail Demand
05/08/2024 | Globe NewswireSimbe, the leading provider of Store Intelligence™ solutions that increase retailer performance through unprecedented visibility and insights, today announced a partnership with Plexus Corp. to bring its best-in-class retail robotics-as-a-service to market quickly and at global scale.
IDTechEx Discusses Low-Loss Materials: The Enabler of Future Connected Vehicles?
05/06/2024 | IDTechExFuture connected vehicles will offer future drivers a safer, smoother, and more convenient driving experience. Not only will drivers get access to more navigation and entertainment options, but they will also gain access to safety technologies that will potentially reduce accidents, improve congestion, and reduce emissions globally by allowing vehicle safety systems to communicate with each other and with city traffic infrastructure.
HBM Prices to Increase by 5–10% in 2025, Accounting for Over 30% of Total DRAM Value
05/06/2024 | TrendForceAvril Wu, TrendForce Senior Research Vice President, reports that the HBM market is poised for robust growth, driven by significant pricing premiums and increased capacity needs for AI chips.
Tablet Shipments Show Signs of Recovery in Q1 2024
05/06/2024 | IDCAfter more than two years of decline, worldwide tablet shipments posted modest year-over-year growth of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24), totaling 30.8 million units, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.