Perpetual Energy Harvesting Devices

Intellectual Merits: This small Business Innovation Research Phase II project seeks to develop innovative energy harvesting device capable to scavenge energy from environment radiations (light), covering wavelengths from 0.3 to 40.0 micrometer for numerous military and commercial applications. The device has the harvesting efficiency of more than>20% for daylight and>5 % for the radiations covering from 3 to 40 micrometer (during night time). All day and night energy harvesting devices are required as an alternate power supplies for various remotely located sensing system, unmanned aircraft, distributed wireless network system, ground-based warning and monitoring system to power the systems directly and/or to recharge the batteries, when necessary. To date several techniques for energy harvesting are being used and they are mainly based on vibration, electromagnetic, electrostatic etc. However, these techniques are location dependencies and none of these techniques could provide enough energy to operate system mentioned. Today"s solar cell can be used as the energy harvester; however, they are only harvest when the daylight is present. In addition, today solar cell is not also high efficient, so that it requires more area to achieve make high power. A goal in Phase-II program is to carry on further research and development of proposed high power perpetual energy harvesting device, capable to continuously scavenge energy from environment all day and night to power and/or recharge the battery. Banpil will demonstrate: (a) modeling and simulation of the proposed integrated perpetual energy harvesting device (b) design and fabrication of proposed device integrated with the storage device, and (c) demonstrate energy harvesting module with low form-factor and low weight in Phase-II. Recognizing the vast application potential of Banpil"s perpetual energy harvesting devices, several industrial partners have expressed strong interest in commercializing this technology. During Phase II, Banpil will work with several leading military and commercial companies who expressed strong interest on proposed perpetual harvesting devices, as a part of commercialization of the propsoed technology.