A self-startup DC-DC boost converter for thermal energy harvesting in a 0.35 μm CMOS process

Abstract

In this paper a self-startup DC-DC boost converter for thermal energy harvesting applications is presented. A startup circuit boosts an internal supply voltage using a low voltage generated from a thermoelectric generator to operate the internal circuitry of the converter. To reduce power dissipation, the startup circuit is disabled after the startup operation is finished. A boosted output voltage is obtained by alternating an auxiliary converter for the internal supply voltage and a main converter for the output voltage. The converter has been implemented in a 0.35 μm complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) process. Measurement results shows that the designed converter is capable of generating an output voltage close to 3V from an input voltage of 200 mV, and can provide a maximum output power of 278 μW with an end-to-end power efficiency of 46.5%. It occupies an active area of 0.36 mm2.

A review of the state of art and prospects in energy storage systems for energy harvesting applications

“…A lot has been said about how ESS could help energy harvesting systems work for application services [59], [80], [81], [84], [40]- [43] as shown in Figure 4. It covers a wide range of issues, including power quality maintenance, power system protection, and energy management, etc.…”

“…Energy harvesting is a technique that captures, harvests, or scavenges various unused or ambient sources of energy e.g., sun, heat, vibration, and wind, into electrical energy [1]- [44]. Sources for energy harvesting are divided into large scales such as solar PV [6], [13], [15], [33], [39], [45], [46], wind [46]- [50], tidal [30], [51], and geothermal [35], [40], [52], [53], and then on a small scale such as electromagnetic [6], [9], [32], mechanical [19], [37], [54], [55], and heat [2], [15], [24], [56], [57]. However, in recent years, largescale energy harvesting has been more widely viewed and developed.…”

Modernisation of DC-DC converter topologies for solar energy harvesting applications: A review

“…One of the interesting and potentially fruitful solutions to meet the ever-increasing energy demands of the globe is to collect energy from the sun. The total system for collecting solar energy is made up of a variety of different devices and components, including as PV arrays, MPPT controllers, DC-DC converters, batteries, loads (both AC and DC), and inverters [9], [11], [12], [16], [17], [58], [119], [120]. The comprehensive schematic block of the solar energy collecting system is shown in Figure 1.…”

“…The voltage on the load side is larger than the PV voltage in solar harvesting energy applications. It implies that the step-up voltage procedure must be carried out, and the boost converter becomes one of the several topologies that may be chosen and included into an MPPT [32], [36], [55], [58], [78], [81], [82], [93], [102], [103], [110], [132], [135], [258], [264], [276], [278], [286]- [300]. The boost converter is the most popular option, and it has been manufactured by industry [295].…”