Ubiquitous green energy applications

background

There is a lot of environmental energy around us, and traditional energy harvesting methods have always been through solar panels and wind turbines. However, new energy harvesting tools allow us to generate electricity from a wide variety of environmental energy sources. In addition, what matters is not the energy conversion efficiency of the circuit. The amount of "average collected" energy that can be used to power the circuit is more important. For example, a thermoelectric generator converts heat into electricity, a piezoelectric component converts mechanical vibration, a photovoltaic component converts sunlight (or any light source), and a component that generates electricity by chemical action converts moisture energy. This makes it possible to power remote sensors or to charge storage devices such as capacitors or thin film batteries, so that the microprocessor or transmitter can be powered from a remote location without the need for a local power source.

This in turn creates opportunities for Linear Technology's energy harvesting products as potential solutions. Table 1 below shows the products we offer in this area

Table 1: Linear Technology's IC Solutions for Renewable Energy Applications

Each of the products listed in Table 1 has specific functional and performance criteria that make each product the most practical solution based on the type of environmental energy source. In summary, these include:

1, low standby quiescent current: typical value is less than 6μA, the minimum is 450nA

2, low starting voltage: as low as 20mV

3, high input voltage capability: up to 34V continuous voltage and 40V transient voltage

4, can handle AC input

5, multi-output capability and autonomous system power management

6, automatic polarity work

7. Maximum power point control (MPPC) for solar input

8, can collect energy from the temperature difference as low as 1 ° C

9. The solution with the smallest number of external components and compact board area

Driving market power

Energy regulations, rising operating costs and an increasing number of “green” movements drive the acceptance of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for energy harvesting applications. Although previous WSN products (industrial machinery, agriculture, structural health monitoring, etc.) have left a fragmented market, cross-industry efforts to unify sensor networks with IP platforms are underway to simplify development and attract new vendors to market. And encourage innovation. Note: WSNs may also refer to wireless sensor nodes, so whether a WSN refers to a single or multiple configurations depends on the context.

WSN is a breakthrough technology that reduces installation costs by up to 80% and supports a wide variety of applications that are not supported by wired networks, making buildings greener and smarter. Because sensors can be installed almost anywhere, buildings of any size can optimize their energy consumption, improve safety and reduce operating expenses. Please note: In buildings, HVAC uses two out of two WSNs that are now installed, followed by lighting and access control. It is predicted that 15 million wireless sensor nodes (source: ON World Inc.) will be installed in the next five years. These sensor nodes will need to be powered by batteries or environmental energy, or they may be powered by a combination of the two.

A recent study by iRAP has supported the growth forecast, entitled "EN105: Ultra-low power (microwatt) energy harvesting for wireless switches and wireless sensor networks," the report writes, 2009. The global market for annual ultra-low power energy harvesting devices is estimated at $79.5 million. iRAP further estimates that the market will reach $1.25 billion in 2014 with an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 73.6%.

Therefore, we believe that there is a very large market for products that meet the needs of specific solutions in this area or in the field of renewable energy and energy harvesting. That's why Linear Technology invests time and resources in developing specific products that have the right features to deliver today's viable and affordable solutions.

"green" power business opportunities

In 2012, any product that targets “green” energy or energy harvesting will have growth opportunities. Energy costs and environmental concerns, as well as the need to extend the battery life of mobile devices, have led to a focus on power optimization for a wide range of applications. Our energy-efficient products enable customers to convert energy, consume lower power and extend battery life with greater efficiency.

The market for solar powered portable electronic devices continues to grow as consumers look for ways to reduce energy consumption and spend more time outdoors. Because solar power supplies are volatile and unreliable, almost all solar-powered devices have rechargeable batteries. Obviously, people's goal is to extract as much solar energy as possible to quickly charge these batteries and keep them charged.

However, solar cells are inherently inefficient devices, but they do have a maximum output power point, so working at this point is an obvious design goal. The problem is that the I-V characteristic of the maximum output power varies with illumination. The output current of a single crystal solar cell is proportional to the intensity of the illumination, while its voltage at the point of maximum power output is relatively constant. For a given illumination intensity, the maximum power output occurs at the inflection point of each curve, at which point the battery transitions from a constant voltage device to a constant current device. Therefore, when the illumination cannot meet the full power requirement of the charger, the charger design that efficiently extracts energy from the solar panel must be able to control the output voltage of the solar panel to reach the maximum power point voltage.

“Green power” is not limited to generating energy through energy harvesting, it also performs the same function with less energy. One area that has had a significant impact is digital system power management. If the digital power supply is designed correctly, it can reduce data center power consumption, speed time to market, have superior stability and transient response, and increase overall system reliability, such as in network equipment.

System designers of network devices have to increase the system's data throughput and performance, and add functionality. At the same time, they are also under pressure to reduce the overall power consumption of the system. The challenge in the data center is to reduce overall power consumption by resizing the workflow and moving the job to underutilized servers, allowing other servers to shut down. To meet these requirements, it is necessary to know the power consumption of the end user device. A properly designed digital power management system can provide users with power consumption data, allowing for intelligent energy management decisions.

In addition, one of the main benefits of digital power system management is to reduce design costs and speed time to market. Complex multi-track systems can be developed efficiently using a comprehensive and intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) development environment. This type of system can be modified by the GUI instead of soldering to the "white wire" anchor point, thus simplifying online testing (ICT) and board debugging. Another benefit is that since real-time telemetry data can be used, it is possible to predict power system failures and take preventive measures. Perhaps most importantly, digitally managed DC/DC converters allow designers to develop “green” power systems that meet target performance with minimum energy consumption at point of load, board, rack, and even installation ( Calculate speed, data rate, etc. requirements to reduce infrastructure costs and total cost of ownership over the life of the product.

Linear Technology's LTC3880 is a dual output synchronous step-down DC/DC current mode controller with integrated power FET gate drivers and comprehensive power management features available through I2C PMBus. The product's accurate reference and temperature compensated current mode analog control loop provides ±0.5% DC accuracy, very easy compensation (calibrated to be unaffected by operating conditions), cycle-by-cycle current limit, fast and accurate current sharing, And voltage and load transient response, and there are no errors found in other products that use "digital" control, related to ADC quantization. The LTC3880 includes a 16-bit data acquisition system that provides digital readback of input and output voltages and currents, duty cycles, and temperature. The device also provides a fault logging function initiated by an interrupt flag and a "black box" recorder that stores the operating state of the converter before the fault occurs. Linear Technology's LTpowerPlayTM development software and GUI interface facilitates the development of multi-track systems.

How much power does energy harvesting provide?

The most advanced and off-the-shelf energy harvesting products (for example in the field of vibration energy harvesting and indoor photovoltaic cells) produce power in the order of milliwatts under typical operating conditions. Although this magnitude of power may seem limited, the operation of energy harvesting components over the years may mean that such products are roughly equivalent to long-life primary batteries in terms of both energy supply and energy per unit of energy. . In addition, systems using energy harvesting technology will typically be able to recharge after the battery is exhausted, and some systems powered by the main battery are not possible.

Environmental energy sources include light, thermal differentials, vibrating beams, transmitted RF signals, or just any other source of energy that can be generated by a transducer. Table 2 below shows how much energy can be generated from different sources of energy.

Table 2: Energy and its energy

In a large number of applications, such energy values ​​make sense in terms of system deployment. Here are just a few examples of applications:

1) Aircraft corrosion sensor

2) Automatic dimming window

3) Bridge monitor

4) Building automation

5) Electricity meter

6) Gas sensor

7) Health monitor

8) HVAC control

9) Light switch

10) Remote pipeline monitor

11) Watch

12) Water meter

in conclusion

There are many business opportunities for energy harvesting as an alternative energy source in “green power”. A good example of this type of business opportunity is the solar powered electronics market. The market continues to grow as companies look for ways to reduce energy consumption. For example, take a look at a smart meter. Smart meters are deployed on the smart grid and are expected to be powered by environmental energy to reduce the energy costs of operating the system. One possible and rich source of energy is solar energy. However, because solar energy is volatile and unreliable, almost all solar-powered devices have rechargeable batteries. Therefore, an important goal is to extract as much solar energy as possible to quickly charge these batteries and maintain their state of charge. When solar energy is not available, the battery is used as an energy source.

Conversely, if a smart meter uses a battery as its primary source of energy, then the power conversion and management electronics must have very low quiescent current in standby mode to extend battery life. Fortunately, Linear Technology offers a wide range of ICs with quiescent current values ​​typically less than 25μA.

Optical Fiber Braided Sleeving

Optical fiber braided sleeving is a protective covering made from braided fibers that is used to protect and organize optical fiber cables. It provides a flexible and durable solution for managing and protecting fiber optic cables from damage and external factors such as dust, moisture, and abrasion.

Optical Fiber Braided Sleeving,Optical Fiber Braided Sleeve,Flame Resist Sleeving,Protect Cable Sleeve

Dongguan Liansi Electronics Co.,Ltd , https://www.liansielectronics.com