MEMS energy harvesters based on silicon and PZT thickfilm technology for wireless sensor systems

In recent years, the concept of energy harvesting has attracted much attention. The basic idea is to scavenge or harvest energy from the ambient surroundings of a device, convert it into electrical energy and use it to power a device, typically a wireless sensor system. The energy harvester can thus be seen as a small local power plant which uses otherwise wasted energy in the form of vibrations, temperature differences etc. which are abundant in most systems. By creating energy harvesters of the same size as modern batteries, the technology therefore has the fascinating future prospect of making batteries redundant. This is therefore a green technology that can be integrated in a wide range of systems, making it highly interesting.