2. Energy Harvesting (Multi Harvesting Power Chip)

There is a growing interest in renewable energy and their applications for both, high and low power systems. Specifically, Energy Harvesting consists in the use of free available energy from the environment, vibrations, heat, light, radio waves or human activities, to power small electronic systems with Low-Voltages and Low-Power consumption. The challenge is to avoid the use of any bulky battery with finite amount of energy and just work directly with the harvested energy and a rechargeable storage element. At that point, Energy Harvesting generators are a promising alternative to generate energy from environment sources and power some applications. Moreover, the use of these generators, with infinite amount of energy, allows the development of autonomous Self-Powered applications. This chapter discusses the development of a real power system based on the recollected energy from several ambient sources. A system able to collect and manage energy from four different power sources, solar light, vibrations, thermal and inductive waves is introduced. Furthermore, the conception is validated with a full-custom Integrated Circuit (IC). Later on, a comprehensive description of all circuits involved in the Multi harvesting system is done; emphasizing the design for Low-Voltage and Low-Power applications.