Industrial Electronics

Energy harvesting PMIC recharges low-power devices

04 May 2023

The range of power integrated circuits (ICs) offered by Nexperia has been expanded with energy harvesting solutions to simplify and enhance the performance of low-power internet of things (IoT) and other embedded applications.

The NEH2000BY is a high-performance power management IC (PMIC) which recharges a battery or storage capacitor using energy harvested from ambient sources, such as light (which can be harnessed using a photovoltaic cell). As a result, this PMIC will enable the development of electronic devices that are self-powered, smaller and environmentally friendly. The energy harvesting solution can also help mitigate theSource: NexperiaSource: Nexperia environmental impact of the billions of batteries produced and discarded each year.

The NEH2000BY PMIC makes it much easier to design energy harvesting solutions, which can be up to 20 times smaller than other competing offerings and do not require manual optimization for individual applications. In addition, the PMIC was designed without inductors, simplifying PCB design and significantly reducing overall bill of materials and board size, with a 12 mm² assembly area.

To achieve the highest conversion efficiency, energy harvesting solutions must be able to adapt as the ambient energy source fluctuates. The NEH2000BY performs Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT), an adaptive algorithm to optimize how it transfers harvested energy and to achieve optimum average conversion efficiency by up to 80%. This unique MPPT algorithm combines speed with accuracy, allowing the PMIC to adapt to environmental changes in less than a second. This is significantly faster than any other currently available solution and maximizes the amount of energy harvested over the course of a day, vastly expanding the number of application areas. Due to its self-optimization functionality and ability to operate autonomously without the requirement for pre-programming, the NEH2000BY makes it easier for designers to power devices with ambient energy.

Such energy harvesting solutions enable economical energy harvesting from various ambient sources in applications consuming up to several milliwatts of power, including wireless IoT nodes, wearable smart tags and electronic shelf labels.

The NEH2000BY is available in a 16-lead, 3 mm × 3 mm quad flat no-leads package and operates between -40° C and 85° C.

To contact the author of this article, email GlobalSpecEditors@globalspec.com


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