Optimum design of magnetic inductive energy harvester and its AC-DC converter

The design of a new-type of inductive magnetic energy harvesting system with high permeability magnetic material combined with a dual polarity boost converter is presented. By using the strong magnetostatic interaction between the coils and permanent magnets, the output power and power density of the energy harvester is enhanced compared to conventional air cored inductive harvesters. In the proposed dual polarity boost converter, the coil leakage inductor of the harvester is utilized to form the input inductor of the boost converter to minimize the converter size. Therefore, the magnetic energy harvester and the power converter share the same magnetic core. Optimum system design becomes a balance of core size, required leakage inductance and required magnetizing inductance in order to extract maximum energy.