The Internet of Things will be without batteries or it will not be

The promise of the Internet of Things depends on future developments, and some of the most important will be seen in the field of energy. The enormous multitude of sensors and connected objects that will continuously communicate with each other will need to have energy autonomy, and not depend on battery recharges at all times. To respond to this need, “Energy Harvesting” solutions are being developed, a set of techniques to recover or collect energy from the environment.

The German company EnOcean, a Siemens spin-off, has developed solutions for electronic devices to supply themselves with energy from the environment without connecting to the current, as reported by Journal Du Net. Other companies, such as Arveni or EnergyBee, have also developed solutions to collect micro-quantities of mechanical, solar or thermal energy. To give specific examples, one of the micro-generators created by the French Arveni transforms the vibrations of a vehicle into electricity that can be used to provide geolocation coordinates.

At the university level, the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands achieved a milestone by developing a tiny temperature sensor that is powered solely by radio waves. The problem it presents is that it still needs to be located near a router, but the solution can also be used for light, motion, or humidity sensors.

Beyond smart cities and home automation uses, energy harvesting can be crucial for the development of wearable health devices or mobile payments.