On-Chip Energy Harvesting System with Storage-Less MPPT for IoTs

Traditional IoT devices operate generally with rechargeable batteries, which limit the weight, size, and cost of the device as well as the maintenance burden. To overcome these limitations, energy harvesting is a promising option for achieving the small form-factor and maintenance-free. In this paper, we introduce a novel and practical storage-less energy harvesting and power management technique performing maximum power point tracking (MPPT), and its on-chip implementation. The proposed power management unit is based on a duty-controlled method which achieves higher energy efficiency and longer operation time than the traditional energy harvesting system. The efficiency and feasibility of the proposed energy harvesting and power management techniques are verified by implementing them using off-the-shelf components first, and then on-chip fabrication with an example application as the final.