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Energy Harvesting for Electronic Devices 2020-2040

Materials, self-charging device opportunities, technology roadmaps, forecasts

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The 221 page IDTechEx report, "Energy Harvesting for Electronic Devices 2020-2040" comes at just the right time. The world's first self-powered smartwatches have just arrived. They are not full-function but we are getting there. That billion a year harvester potential will be followed by similar numbers of Internet of Things nodes but why will Tesla jump in? Energy harvesting is a key enabling technology for these when it was not the case for the emergence of mobile phones and computers. Indeed, the hand crank/solar radio graduating to be the pendulum generator/solar watch shows how two forms of harvesting in one device are increasingly seen, one smartwatch melding thermoelectrics and solar.
 
Indeed, wireless, no-battery building controls harvest up to three modes. That multiplier effect powers demand well beyond $2 billion in 2030 and much more beyond, on IDTechEx 20 year forecasts. What next? Winners? Losers? Technology and sales forecasts? All in the report because of its unique scope and PhD level insights. Low power wireless networks, 5G, smart skin patches electrically powered by sweat, implants and medical wearables triboelectrically and electrodynamically powered by heartbeats, temperature differences, body movements. All are on the way but there is more.
 
The 25 page executive summary and conclusions is easily read by those in a hurry. Many new infograms pull together the needs, challenges, potential and compare forecasts/ leaders/ market drivers and battery elimination milestones ahead. Dip into the next 25 pages of new 20 year forecasts as you wish - triboelectric, photovoltaic, electrodynamic, thermoelectric, piezoelectric and other backed by forecasts for those smartwatches, pico products, wearable technologies, medical, IoT and other uses. Understand why Apple and Boeing will be involved.
 
Chapter 2 introduces the principles, compares the technologies in many ways including vibration harvesting comparisons, what exactly is needed and 38 companies to contact in IoT, LPWAN and so on. Chapter 3 explains 12 photovoltaic technologies and their future with many infograms. Significance of the 2020 Garmin smartwatch having solar glass, why is stretchable photovoltaics coming in? It is all here.
 
Chapter 4 explains why IDTechEx believes triboelectrics is coming from nowhere with its initial sales of dust-filtering self-charging face masks in 2019 to be a strong contender overall. It will use non-toxic, affordable materials in a dazzling array of applications. An example is work on a smartwatch integral battery + harvester in one smart composite. The Chinese government is massively supporting triboelectric harvester research with many research centres and over 200 PhD projects at a time.
 
Chapter 5 explores the burgeoning thermoelectric improvements and applications from smartwatches to IoT nodes and fit-and-forget industrial uses. Pyroelectrics get less mention because of its poor potential. Chapter 6 surprises with electrodynamics technology presented and how has already replaced tens of millions of batteries by using microturbine generators in electronic toilets and pipeline sensors, similar electrodynamics in Seiko, Swatch, Tissot and many more watches. Hand-crank and pull-charged medical and consumer electronics are proliferating. Why the big effort on electrodynamic and thermoelectric harvesting in humans? We need fit-and-forget implants dealing with the epidemic of diabetes. The pacemaker has already saved over three million lives but the 600,000 pacemakers now implanted every year have batteries lasting no more than seven years. That is part of the answer.
 
Chapter 7 does it all for piezoelectrics. Chapter 8 rounds off with harvesting man-made ambient electromagnetic radiation from 50Hz power lines to the new terahertz inventions and also other harvesting options.
 
Throughout these technology chapters there are common themes such as the immense amount of new work on flexible, transparent, biocompatible and stretchable versions and how they will transform wearables and healthcare. Another over-arching theme is battery elimination even extending to woven supercapacitors or no storage at all. Throughout there are many ghost diagrams, photographs and infograms. It is based on 20 years of ongoing research by multilingual PhD level experts travelling, interviewing and benchmarking. The report's emphasis is on creating new business, including identification of gaps in the market. There is much on the new advanced materials needed, on harvester opportunities and new products benefiting society.
 
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1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
1.1.Purpose of this report
1.2.Primary conclusions: market and technology dynamics
1.2.1.Market
1.3.Primary conclusions: technology specifics
1.4.Primary conclusions: Emerging industries
1.4.1.Internet of Things and LPWAN potential
1.4.2.Healthcare
1.4.3.Military, industrial, automotive and aerospace
1.5.Multimode harvesting, no battery
1.6.Device power harvested and needed in device use with examples
1.7.Power range needed
1.8.Energy harvesting options to power electronic devices
1.9.Most promising future applications by preferred technology
1.10.Energy harvesting for electronics forecasts
1.10.1.Summary and roadmap 2020-2040
1.10.2.Photovoltaic energy harvesting for electronics: units, unit price, market value 2020-2040
1.10.3.Thermoelectric energy harvesting for electronics: units, unit price, market value 2020-2040
1.10.4.Piezoelectric energy harvesting for electronics: market units, unit price, market value 2020-2040
1.10.5.Triboelectric transducer and self-powered sensors 2020-2040 $ million
1.10.6.Electrodynamic energy harvesting for electronics: units, unit price, market value 2020-2040
1.10.7.Forecast for pico products (flashlights, lanterns etc) with integral harvesting
1.11.Addressable end uses for energy harvesting for electronics
1.11.1.Wearable technology
1.11.2.Augmented reality AR / virtual reality VR
1.11.3.Cardiac monitoring skin patches
1.11.4.Skin patches for continuous diabetes management
1.11.5.Medical motion sensing patches
1.11.6.Haptics
1.11.7.Mobile phones
1.11.8.Battery assisted and active RFID
1.11.9.Low power WAN connections 2020-2030
1.12.Li-ion battery demand, GWh 2020-2030 and price trend
2.NEW MARKET TRENDS
2.1.Overview
2.2.Features of energy harvesting for electronic devices
2.3.Energy harvesting system design
2.4.Picogrids
2.5.Pico products
2.6.Power offered: technology choices for harvesting
2.7.Move to flexible and multi-mode harvesters
2.8.Trend to flexible energy harvesting and sensing
2.9.Energy harvesting of motion: transducer options compared
2.9.1.Vibration harvesting
2.9.2.Harvesting for wearables and mobile phones
2.9.3.Hug opportunities in IoT, LPWAN and allied areas
2.9.4.EH developers should talk to these 21 LPWAN silicon manufacturers
2.9.5.EH developers should talk to these 17 WPAN module and chipset makers
3.EMERGING PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY FOR ELECTRONICS
3.1.Examples of photovoltaics in electronic devices
3.2.PV mechanisms: status, benefits, challenges, market potential compared
3.3.Wafer vs thin film photovoltaics 2020-2040
3.4.Photovoltaic trends and priorities 2020-2040
3.5.Single crystal scSi vs polycrystal pSi
3.6.Amorphous silicon dead end
3.7.Thin film more efficient than rigid silicon 2030-2040?
3.8.Important PV options beyond silicon compared
3.9.Production readiness of Si alternatives for mainstream electronics
3.10.Best research-cell efficiencies 1975-2020
3.11.Photovoltaic wild cards: 2D semiconductors, quantum dots, rectenna arrays
4.TRIBOELECTRIC HARVESTING TECHNOLOGY FOR ELECTRONICS
4.1.Overview
4.2.Basics
4.3.Targeted applications
4.3.1.Performance available matched to potential applications
4.3.2.Some targeted medical applications
4.3.3.Battery free electronics: toys, biosensors, wearables
4.3.4.Transparent, stretchable: an example
4.3.5.Wind, river or tidal generation for electronic devices
4.4.Triboelectric dielectric series
4.5.Materials opportunities
4.6.Work combining TENG with other harvesting
5.THERMOELECTRIC AND PYROELECTRIC HARVESTING FOR ELECTRONICS
5.1.Basics
5.1.1.Thermoelectric generator design considerations
5.1.2.Thermoelectric harvester improvement 2020-2040
5.1.3.TEG layouts and materials
5.1.4.TEG material choices and improvement roadmap
5.1.5.Thin film thermoelectric generators
5.1.6.TEG materials, processing and designs compared
5.2.SOFT report on TE for electronics
5.3.Examples of commercial and imminent applications
5.4.Gentherm Global Power Technologies
5.5.Marlow Industries
5.6.Best in class: Matrix Industries
5.7.Building & home automation: EnOcean
5.8.KCF Technologies
5.9.Automotive and IoT
5.10.PowerPot™ Biolite ™ and Spark ™ charging personal electronics
5.11.Other industrial, military
5.12.Collaborations, mergers and exits
5.13.Impactful new research
5.13.1.Thermoelectric power generation at room temperature
5.13.2.First stretchable thermoelectrics
5.13.3.TEG power boost by mechanical shuttling
5.14.Pyroelectric underwhelms
5.15.Report January 2021 - Energy harvesting made possible with skin temperature
6.ELECTRODYNAMIC
6.1.Basics
6.2.EnOcean GmbH and EnOcean Alliance
6.3.Seiko Kinetic electrodynamically harvesting watch
6.4.Kinetron
6.5.Kinetron micro turbines
6.6.Harnessing linear movement
6.7.Human movement harvesting
6.8.Crank charged consumer electronics
6.9.Travellers use wind, water
6.10.6D movement harvesting
6.11.Witt Energy
7.PIEZOELECTRIC
7.1.Basics
7.2.Piezo harvester application by mode
7.3.Manufacture: Typical processes
7.4.Printed and flexible piezoelectric harvesters
7.5.Gallium phosphate
7.6.Collagen piezoelectric for disposables, implants, wearables
7.7.MEMS
7.8.Examples of MEMS harvesting
7.9.Piezoelectric switches
7.10.Applications and research
7.11.Piezo harvesters for the human body
7.12.Conformal piezoelectric harvesting for implants
7.13.Inner ear
7.14.Wrist health monitor
7.15.Patient behaviour monitoring
7.16.Automotive and aerospace
7.17.Algra
8.MAN-MADE AMBIENT ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION, OTHER
8.1.Electromagnetic radiation made for other purposes
8.2.Power cable magnetic field
8.3.Cellular transmissions
8.4.Terahertz radiation
8.5.Microbial fuel cells and other options
 

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Passing $2bn by 2030, energy harvesting modules become key to smartwatches, IoT and more

Report Statistics

Slides 221
Forecasts to 2040
 

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