Advanced Thermoelectric Milli-Power Source

Energy can be harvested or scavenged from many environmental sources such as: solar, wind, vibrations, temperature gradients, etc. Two common issues related to environmental energy sources are limited/unpredictable availability and limited/unpredictable quantity. This proposal examines the requirements for the efficient harvesting of energy based on the temperature gradient that exists between the human skin and the surrounding environment. This source has the advantage that it is essentially available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The challenges of this work include quantifying and working with the low energy flux (mW/cm2) of the human body, the range of body-to-ambient temperature gradients (from a few degrees to tens of degrees centigrade), and the sensitivity of human tissue to extreme temperatures. This proposal will apply Camgian Microsystems"low power design technology with RTI"s efficient thermo-electric technology to the solutions of these challenges.