Energy Harvesting With Microbial Fuel Cell and Power Management System

This paper presents a system that can harvest energy in the water and use the harvested energy to power electronic devices deployed in the water. The system consists of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) and a power management system. The MFC uses electrochemical reactions and bacteria that exist in the water to harvest energy and generate electricity. The power management system consisting of a charge pump, a super capacitor, two solid-state switches, and a boost converter accumulates the energy harvested by the MFC, stores the energy in the super capacitor, and bursts power to the load. The power management system also boosts the voltage of the MFC to a sufficient level for the electronic devices. The presented energy-harvesting system is self-powered, sustainable, environment friendly, and maintenance-free. The system has been tested and proven through experimental work.