Further IoT market expansion owing to innovative thermal energy harvesting

The emerging market of the Internet of Things (IoT) is gradually becoming the main driver for the entire semiconductor industry. The quantity of IoT devices already outnumbers the human population x6.5. Regarding the number, portability, and size of IoT devices, it is very challenging to provide reliable maintenance of their supply. Surprisingly, IoT devices are requiring ultra-low energy to operate, therefore, Energy Harvesting (EH) could be a fantastic solution offering energy-autonomy to IoT nodes. ThermElectricity (TE) is one the well-established EH techniques providing direct, silent, vibrationless and extremely reliable heat-to-electricity conversion. TE energy generation depends mainly on the material properties, electrical load and thermal conditions. During the conventional operation an entire ThermoElectric Generator (TEG) is quickly thermalizing that suppresses the temperature drop in steady state.Negative impact of the thermalization can be reduced when TEG is operated in pulses. Periodic connection/disconnection with the heat source allow for outstanding power boost up to x2.7 over conventional operation for same conditions. Reported pulse operation can be implemented in all types of TEGs in all temperatures. Owing to this technique, TEG can produce more energy for given temperature or can produce same energy as conventionally operated TEG from significantly lower temperatures. TEG power boost technique can help unlock further IoT expansion on the market.