by Shane Henson — July 27, 2012—According to new research from Frost & Sullivan’s Technical Insights Group, published in a report titled Advances in Energy Harvesting Technologies for Building Automation, the progression in energy harvester (EH) technology has enabled building automation systems (BAS) to be more independent and flexible to identify and address energy wastage from buildings.
This is provided through the ability of energy harvesters to scavenge ambient energy, including solar power as well as thermal, kinetic and electrical energy, allowing EHs to resupply power regularly, explains Frost & Sullivan. From this enhanced energy reservoir, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are enabled to have additional features and options for end-users. Additionally, the energy efficiency of EHs allow wireless sensor networks to be placed anywhere in a building, with minimal overhead. This eco-friendly technology aligns well with popular green initiatives currently being implemented.
Frost & Sullivan notes that universities are at the forefront of exploring techniques and designs to reduce the EH footprint and increase the power density factor. Original equipment manufacturer initiatives have also caused a huge impact in bringing together market actors to deploy products with interoperability and ease of implementation for the end-user, the company says. Alliances have played a vital role in collaborating and bringing together the different manufacturers under one umbrella; however, more collaboration is needed at the university level.
“Reducing the energy consumption of EHs has not affected the performance of the device,” said Technical Insights Industry Analyst Saju John Mathew. “Rather, the unique microstructuring design and dense packing has increased the power density several fold. This enables the EH to be physically integrated with different custom-designed WSN applications.”
However, ambient EHs are currently limited in that each application requires a specific technology. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, as EHs still have not reached a broadband platform—they are very much tuned to the requirement of the actual application, notes Frost & Sullivan. Additionally, the lack of a total solution delays mass adoption, so component manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) need to further integrate EH devices to offer a complete solution.
