Research Articles

Large investments have been made to enable flexible, thin sensors rather than rigid sensors.

Small manned electric vehicles - e-bikes to car-like micro EVs - often sell in the largest numbers. Although they are usually lower in cost than regular cars, they will reach over $33 billion in 2026 according to IDTechEx analysis.

The 3D printing industry is still going from strength to strength. According to the IDTechEx report 3D Printing 2015-2025: Technologies, Markets, Players this industry is set to grow from $1bn in 2012 to $20bn in 2025.

Perovoskite photovoltaics promises over 20% efficiency, low cost materials and even flexible, transparent and stretchable versions dearly needed for new applications. Record power to weight ratio is needed for the electric vehicle end game, the land vehicles, boats and aircraft described in the IDTechEx report, Energy Independent Vehicles 2016-2026.

Another major focus was 48V systems some in EVs but mainly for microhybrid (stop-start) and mild hybrid (torque assist) for managing the now huge amounts of energy in and out with new forms of harvesting and tougher duty cycles and also more power-hungry accessories. That has resulted in a large number of redesigned and new accessories in anticipation of new standards.

High Power Energy Harvesting (HPEH) is a term beginning to be used for creation of electricity where it is needed using ambient "free" energy. That zero-pollution, high-energy conversion typically captures light (photovoltaics), heat difference (thermoelectrics and heat pumps) and movement (electrodynamics).

The printed electronics equipment and consumables supplier base consists of over 100 global organizations, according to IDTechex Research in their report Printing Equipment for Printed Electronics 2015-2025. The majority of these are based in Europe, followed by a roughly even share of US and Asian based companies. Within Europe itself, Germany is home to more equipment makers than other European countries.

Leading companies will speak at IDTechEx Sensors USA on November 18-19, 2015 in Santa Clara, CA.

The Riversimple two seat fuel cell hybrid car was on show in powertrain form at CENEX recently and in addition to the Hydrogenics fuel cell as fuel tank and the lithium-ion capacitor as engine it had four in-wheel motors.

Supporting IDTechEx strong forecasts for car-like vehicles not homologated as cars or even crash tested, we saw a lot at this event.

The latest CENEX Low Carbon Vehicle Event took place at Millbrook UK mid September with over 50% growth on last year there being over 3000 delegates and over 200 exhibitors, mostly parts suppliers and charging station manufacturers but with several prestige stands from major motor manufacturers.

Energy Independent Vehicles 2016-2026, the brand new report from IDTechEx Research, argues that electric energy independent vehicles will be one of the most important megatrends this century because buying and delivering fuel becomes a thing of the past and a major source of global and local pollution is eliminated.

IDTechEx are hosting a free webinar on Thursday 24 September 2015.

Haptics are an essential feature of the UX platform in many electronic products today. Whether as notification provision in a vibrating smartphone, tension building in a video game controller, or input confirmation in an industrial scanner, this billion dollar industry is something that most people will experience every single day.

In 2015 the wearable technology market will be $24.2 billion. However, the majority of this - 74% - is for already mature wearables - the humble electronic wristwatch, earphones, blood glucose test strips and the like according to IDTechEx Research in the report Wearable Technology 2015-2025: Technologies, Markets, Forecasts.

This video provides an overview of the opportunities for sensors in wearable technologies.

Thin, flexible batteries in 2025 set to become a $400 million market in 2025 mainly by enabling new products.

The IDTechEx Show!, America's largest event focused on emerging technologies, including printed electronics and wearable technology, has already booked more than 75% of its exhibition space at the event, which will be held Nov. 18-19 in the heart of Silicon Valley at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California.

Thermoelectric energy harvesting is no longer the Cinderella of energy harvesting - a subject previously dominated by photovoltaics and electrodynamics such as the bicycle dynamo and the electric vehicle's regenerative braking.

This IDTechEx webinar will review the progression from 2D to 3D printed electronics including technologies, materials and markets

The IDTechEx Research report "Wearable Sensors 2015-2025: Market Forecasts, Technologies, Players" forecasts that wearable sensors will drive the wearable technology market to $70bn by 2025.

In 2020 flexible barrier manufacturing for flexible electronic devices such as displays will be a market worth more than US$184 million according to IDTechEx Research. That equates to 3.8 million square meters of flexible barrier films for electronics.

IDTechEx Research's brand new report analyses and forecasts the wireless charging market for electric vehicles and small electronics.

Energy harvesting spans microwatts to megawatts because it is the creation of electricity where it is needed using wind, sun, movement, heat difference, friction and other ambient energy.

The RAIN RFID Alliance announced partnerships with two key organizations in the RFID industry. CNRFID and IDTechEx will join with RAIN to provide information and guidance to organizations involved in passive UHF RFID.

Proper selection of thermal interface materials is crucial for the efficiency of electronic devices, has been proven to reduce the cost of ownership, reduce system power consumption and increase operational lifetime.

In the new report, RFID in China 2015-2025, IDTechEx Research has identified over 150 Chinese companies supplying RFID and tracked how the industry in China will grow to become a $4.3 billion opportunity in 2025.

A trillion dollar opportunity to 2035, electric buses are being completely reinvented because they are the electric vehicle sector already attracting billion dollar orders and they can prevent millions of deaths and injuries from air pollution.

It seems obvious; energy harvesting is intermittent, so combine different types to make it continuous and therefore much more useful.

IDTechEx are hosting a free webinar on Thursday 3 September 2015.

Plenty of kilowatts from no fuel. This dream ticket is a reality today from the rapid adoption of high power energy harvesting. Energy harvesting converts ambient energy into electricity where it is needed, off-grid.

The term 'energy harvesting' is most typically applied to powering small electronic devices using say sunshine, vibration or temperature.

Core applications of PV and touch panels continue to grow demand, but new opportunities emerge in the form of wearable technology, circuit boards and structural electronics.

Analysts IDTechEx almost completely rewrote their report Power Electronics for Electric Vehicles 2015-2025 this year and frequent updates take place, such is the pace of change.

Atmospheric vs. vacuum deposition in the flexible electronics era.

Elastic piezoelectric generators are being developed with microwatts demonstrated and watts in prospect for large formats.