APPLICATIONS & SOLUTIONS / ENERGY HARVESTING APPLICATIONS
Thermal
The Thermal Solution
When would a Thermal Energy Harvesting solution be right for you?
Let’s assume that you work with battery powered IoT wireless devices that operate in an environment presenting thermal gradients generated by heater, human body, furnace, motor, etc. Without energy harvesting, you need to replace the batteries of those devices, because they run out of energy. This generates operational costs.
But, in some environments, there is enough of energy dissipated by surrounding machines that you could use to power your devices.
Depending on the available temperature gradients, TEGs can generate from 20µW to 10mW per cm².
When properly selected (material and topology) and sized (area exposed to temperature gradients), a TEG combined with our state of the art energy harvesting PMICs will recharge the batteries of your IoT applications from hot or cold sources.
Using e-peas’ thermic energy harvesting, you will avoid typical operating costs associated with battery replacement.
What exactly does e-peas offer?
Best performing solutions that make your devices’ batteries live forever. Our innovative ICs autonomously and efficiently recharge your batteries from any temperature gradients.
e-peas offers you 1 AEM [Ambient Energy Manager] reference:
- The AEM20940 allows you for harvesting energy from TEG producing from 3µW up to 625mW.
Why e-peas? How does e-peas differ from competitors?
This reference is based on e-peas unique AEM platform offering:
- top energy conversion efficiency
- the fastest supercapacitor charge
- the lowest cold-start power
- the smallest footprint and associated components BOM
In addition, you will get direct access to engineering support by our designers.
Product Matrix
The following product(s) is/are recommended for thermal applications:
| Part Number | Vin | Cold-start | Pin | Pout | MPPT | Package |
| AEM30940 | 50mV to 5V | 380mV | 1μW to 625mW | 10mA@1.8V | Yes | QFN28 5x5mm |
| AEM20940 | 50mV to 5V | 60mV | 3μW to 400mWW | 20mA@1.2-1.8V | Yes | QFN28 5x5mm |
AEM20940 for thermal harvesting
Ultra-low-power start-up
- Cold start from 100 mV input voltage and 80 µW input power (typical)
Ultra-low-power Boost regulator
- Configurable MPPT with single-pin programming
- Selectable MPP ratios of 50, 55, 75%
- Open circuit voltage sensing for MPPT every 21 s
- Input voltage operation range from 50 mV to 5.5V
Integrated LDO regulator at low voltage
- 1.2/1.8 V, high efficiency
- Up to 20 mA load current
- Power gated by external control
Integrated LDO regulator at high voltage
- Configurable : 1.8-2.5-3.3 V
- Up to 80 mA load current with 300 mV drop-out
- Power gated by external control
Flexible energy storage management
- Programmable overcharge and overdischarge protection
- For any type of rechargeable battery or (super)capacitor
- Fast supercapacitor charging
- Warns load when battery is getting empty
- Warns when regulators are switched on
Optional primary battery
- Automatically switches to the primary battery when secondary battery gets empty
Documentation
AEM30940 for thermal harvesting
E-peas’ thermal energy harvesting IC solution – AEM30940 – is an integrated energy management subsystem that extracts DC power from TEG to simultaneously store energy in a rechargeable element and supply the system with two independent regulated voltages. This allows product designers and engineers to extend battery lifetime and ultimately get rid of the primary energy storage element in a large range of wireless applications like industrial monitoring, home automation, wearables.
Ultra-low-power start-up
- Cold start from 380 mV input voltage and 3 µW input power (typical)
Ultra-low-power Boost regulator
- Configurable MPPT with single-pin programming
- Selectable MPP ratios of 50, 65, 80, 100%
- Open circuit voltage sensing for MPPT every 0.5 s
- Input voltage operation range from 50 mV to 5.5V
Integrated LDO regulator at low voltage
- 1.8 V, high efficiency
- Up to 10 mA load current
- Power gated by external control
Integrated LDO regulator at high voltage
- Configurable from 2.2 V to 4.2 V
- Up to 80 mA load current with 300 mV drop-out
- Power gated by external control
Flexible energy storage management
- Programmable overcharge and overdischarge protection
- For any type of rechargeable battery or (super)capacitor
- Fast supercapacitor charging
- Warns load when battery is getting empty
- Warns when regulators are switched on
Smallest footprint, smallest BOM
- Only seven passive external components
Optional primary battery
- Automatically switches to the primary battery when secondary battery gets empty
Documentation
| Item | Version | Last Update | Download |
| AEM30940 product brief | PB_AEM30940_Rev1.1 | 13/12/2017 | Download |