Cymbet Enerchip Enables All Methods of Energy Harvesting

Cymbet Corporation has assembled one of the most ambitious energy harvesting demonstrations ever presented for the Sensors Expo 2009 at the Stephens Convention Center in Chicago, IL from June 9-10. As the leader in thin-film battery technology and energy harvesting solutions, the Cymbet EnerChip is a key power enabler for micro energy harvesting solutions. Eight different EnerChip based energy harvesting wireless sensor configurations will be demonstrated in the Cymbet booth 721. All of the demonstrations utilize the Texas Instruments (TI) eZ430-RF2500 wireless sensor demo kit.

• Vibration Energy Harvesting using the EnerChip CC CBC3150 and the AdaptivEnergy Joule-Thief™ based on a piezoelectric energy harvesting transducer.
• “Free” Mechanical Energy Harvesting using the EnerChip CC CBC3150 and the Advanced Cerametrics Harvestor III based on a piezoelectric energy harvesting transducer.
• RF Induction Far Field Charging using an RF field generated using the PowerCast PowerCaster transmitting antenna and the PowerHarvester receiver connected to an EnerChip CC CBC3150 thin film battery for wireless sensor power storage.
• RF Induction Near Field Charging using an RF field applied at close range using a transmitting antenna and the EnerChip CC RF receiver module.
• Thermal Energy Harvesting using the Micropelt TE-Power Plus thermal electric generator (TEG) to harvest energy from a thermal gradient. The TEG is connected to an EnerChip EH CBC5300 series energy harvesting module that drives the TI wireless sensor.
• Flow Energy Harvesting using a miniature wind turbine connected to an EnerChip EH CBC5300 series energy harvesting module that drives the TI wireless sensor.
• Flexible Solar Cell Energy Harvesting utilizes a Konarka PowerPlastic flexible solar cell connected to a Cymbet EVAL-08 Solar Energy Harvesting evaluation kit driving a TI wireless kit.
• Fixed Solar Cell Energy Harvesting – Using a fixed solar cell, the Cymbet EVAL-08 Solar Energy Harvesting evaluation kit drives the TI wireless sensor.

The Cymbet EnerChip EH EVAL-08 kit is also part of the recently released Texas Instruments (TI) ez430-RF2500-SEH Wireless Solar Energy Harvesting Demo Kit. The TI kit comes with all the hardware, firmware and user interface software designers need to create zero power wireless sensors. It is available from many distributors, including DigiKey and Mouser.

“We are excited to be the first company to demonstrate all the methods of energy harvesting at one time,” said Steve Grady, Cymbet vice president of marketing. “These demonstrations show how the EnerChip thin film battery and the EnerChip EH modules make it easy to design any type of energy harvesting based wireless sensor. We look forward to working with our customers to bring exciting new energy-efficient products to market.”