IDTechEx’s Energy Harvesting Awards announced
The IDTechEx Energy Harvesting Awards were launched at the networking dinner at Robinson College on Wednesday 3rd June. Two awards were given out, recognising achievements in Best Technology Development and Best Application of energy harvesting in a product.
With entries from companies that offer unique solutions tailored for specific applications, the INFINERGY™ Micro Power Module (MPM) from Infinite Power Solutions (IPS) was the winner in the technology development category.
One of the judges, Professor Shashank Priya of Virginia Tech said: “At this juncture, there are two important requirements for all energy harvesting devices: adaptive circuit capable of accepting input from a wide range of harvesters, and conformable energy storage media.”
IPS claims that their MPM uniquely accepts energy from “badly behaved” voltage sources such as piezoelectric elements in a random vibration environment, or photovoltaic cells under low or variable light conditions.
“This is a significant achievement,” Professor Priya added.
Together with the THINERGY™ solid-state, rechargeable, thin-film Micro-Energy Cell (MEC™) that has high power density, cycle life, and service life, IPS seems to have an advantage over competitors by integrating it with the power management module. This product can be integrated with a wide range of energy harvesters eliminating the need for conditioning circuits and energy storage.
“INFINERGY™ offers a solution that cuts across multiple scenarios and has the ability to become part of varying range of devices,” Professor Priya concluded.
In the field of best application, MK Electric-Honeywell was the winner.
MK Electric’s ‘enabled by EnOcean’ Echo range of self powered switches, launched in May 2008, involves no wires, no batteries and no fuss. There are currently over 100,000 EnOcean-enabled buildings in existence today which projects large future markets for wireless switches once the transition of this technology to regular households becomes a reality.
The benefits of such technology – combined with MK Electric’s market-leading wiring devices and accessories – include almost instant switch installation; total location flexibility of light switches within buildings; and easy relocation, re-installation and considerable cost-savings when ‘churning’ commercial spaces.
The important Mond Laboratory building at Cambridge University has become the first educational establishment in the UK to feature MK Electric’s Echo range of self-powered, wireless and battery-less light switches. The constraints of working with listed buildings – such as the Mond – made MK Electric’s Echo switches an ideal solution; as they obviate the need for chasing – or any wiring in the walls.