Micro-scale energy harvesting: A system design perspective

Harvesting electrical power from environmental energy sources is an attractive and increasingly feasible option for several micro-scale electronic systems such as biomedical implants and wireless sensor nodes that need to operate autonomously for long periods of time (months to years). However, designing highly efficient micro-scale energy harvesting systems requires an in-depth understanding of various design considerations and tradeoffs. This paper provides an overview of the area of micro-scale energy harvesting and discusses the various challenges and considerations involved from a system-design perspective.