Energy Harvesting Systems

In the research field of Energy Harvesting Systems the focus lies on the supply and efficient usage of energy. The bandwith regarding energy recovery systems is vast and not narrowed down to a single technology or performance category.

Power supply using photovoltaic technology represents an actual example with high energy density. With this technology nowadays large amounts of energy can be provided resulting in an important contribution to the desired carbon-free energy supply of the future. The project NEWSUN is an example for a detailed concept for an elaborated photovoltaic system aiming for high overall system efficiency. Within NEWSUN optimized sub-systems will be developed, built and tested to evaluate the overall system potential under operating conditions.

As a result of the ongoing trend of miniaturization and personalized electronics the need for compact power supply units with high energy densities increases continuously. In many applications electric devices require very small amounts of energy for operation. Energy harvesting represents for many of these applications the power supply concept of choice since the overall implementation effort is minimized leading to a high degree of self-sufficiency. In order to follow a holistic optimization approach power electronics are optimized towards low energy consumption.