System operation with brief charging
Energy Harvesting
We introduce here the benefits of Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation (AKM) proprietary technology that enables long-hour operations while minimizing the standby power.
The major issue of incorporating renewable energy into a part of life is how to store electricity efficiently and provide a stable supply.
AKM's Energy Harvesting IC enables direct power feeding from environmental generator and simultaneous recharging of rechargeable batteries, allowing quick system startup even when the batteries are empty. In addition, the Energy Harvesting IC, of which standby power is only 52nA, reduces wasteful power consumption and protects the system from over-discharging.
A system can be started by changing a small-capacity capacitor in a short time, and then the secondary battery is charged.
The following are the benefits of connecting solar cell, which have many cells such as 6 cells and rechargeable batteries via AKM's Energy Harvesting IC.
Charge/discharge control (SW Control) with only 26nA of the collected energy
System shut down until power supply starts
A switch that is built into the IC is placed between the storage device and the system to prevent the system from consuming energy during boosting by shutting off the system and the storage device until the boost voltage reaches the power supply starting voltage (3.3V) from 0V.
While several hundred nano-watts or more are required in the conventional technology to operate this charge/discharge control circuit, AKM has realized the operation with a mere 26nA thanks to our proprietary low-consumption circuit technology.
Recharging in a short time even if the secondary battery is empty.
By precharging the capacitor before charging the main secondary battery, the system operation can be started immediately even when the battery is empty.
When the voltage of the capacitor exceeds the threshold value by feeding power from the environmental power generator, it automatically detects that the capacitor has been charged and starts charging the secondary battery, enabling the charging of the secondary battery with surplus power while maintaining system operation.
Over-discharge protection in case of voltage drop
If the voltage of the environmental power generator and the storage device drop, the load is cut off to prevent the possibility of over-discharging.
AKM's Energy Harvesting IC can be in a standby state at a mere 52nA*, suppressing voltage drop due to quiescent power.
* Total 52nA achieved by using 2 channels of IC built-in comparator 26nA
Lineup
Please check this attractive energy harvesting IC lineup of AKM.