Energy harvesting from conducted electromagnetic interference of fluorescent light for Internet of Things application

Abstract

A novel energy harvesting technique that uses conducted electromagnetic interference as an energy source is presented. Conducted EMI generated from fluorescent light using a switched‐mode power supply was measured and modeled as an equivalent voltage source. Two types of rectifier circuits—a bridge rectifier and a voltage doubler—were used as the harvesting devices for conducted EMI source. The matching networks were designed based on the equivalent model, and the harvested power was improved. The implemented energy harvester produces a regulated power over 68.9 mW and current over 15.1 mA while a regulated voltage can be selected between 3.3 V and 5 V. The proposed system shows the highest harvesting power indoor environment and can provide enough power for the Internet of Things devices.