Kit Enables Permanently-Powered Wireless Sensor Networks
TI’s eZ430-RF2500-SEH solar energy harvesting kit combines Cymbet’s EnerChip thin-film battery solution with TI’s ultra-low power MSP430 MCU and RF technology.
As wireless network systems designers look to alternative energy sources, Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) announced a solar energy harvesting (SEH) development kit that converts ambient light into power for industrial, transportation, agricultural and commercial applications. The credit card-sized eZ430-RF2500-SEH kit combines Cymbet Corporation‘s EnerChip thin-film battery technology with TI’s MSP430 microcontrollers (MCU), CC2500 radio frequency (RF) transceivers and the eZ430-RF2500 development tool. Developers can now build self powered solar-based wireless sensor networks, eliminating system batteries, which cost time and money to periodically replace, especially in remote locations. The $149 eZ430-RF2500-SEH kit is sampling now and is available via the TI e-store or authorized distributors.
There has been talk surrounding using energy harvesting to recharge microbatteries which supposedly last thousands of cycles and can be self-sufficient. US companies like Cymbet and Infinite Power Solutions claim their rechargeable batteries can last years by hooking up an e-harvesting method – and they are absolutely correct. But both companies offer batteries that cannot provide above 1 MILLIamp hours of capacity – that’s a problem.
Most of us sensor developers need capacities of 10 to 100s mah with expectations for recharging under 30 mins. Which is why I was interested in a recent rumor, along with a demo I heard of this past fall, that a “microbattery” company is launching a 10mah thin and small battery, complete with a wireless energy harvester to charge the battery. The company, Planar Energy Devices, already demonstrated the same battery (I think) during the Embedded Systems Conference and powered a temperature sensing network – it lasted for hours, two day straight AND they then showed no degradation at the end of the show.