Supercapacitors for energy mangement in autonomous sensor nodes

In automation systems and sensor networks, powering the sensor nodes autonomously and transmitting information is a challenge. Effectively configuring supercapacitor banks at each sensor node with suitable energy harvesting systems can assist in such situations, to avoid the longer-term issues with batteries. With modern supercapacitor families with extra low equivalent series resistance (ESR) and energy storage capacities in the range of few joules to several kilojoules could be used effectively, if the electronics and processing requirements at the sensor node is designed with low-power approaches. The paper presents an overview of present day supercapacitor capabilities, and approaches to design low-power-low-energy electronics where sensor nodes could be autonomous in operation. Few examples of energy harvesters coupled with supercapacitors will be presented with some experimental data collected for a proof-of-concept project.