It allows energy-autonomous sensing and communication equipment to be deployed nearby an AC electricity distribution infrastructure
Enhancing energy extraction from single-phase wire to three-phase cabling for energy harvesting from power lines is a new hardware that has been developed by e-peas and TCT. Suitable for many IoT applications, it allows energy-autonomous sensing and communication equipment to be deployed nearby an AC electricity distribution infrastructure.
The new solution consists of an e-peas AEM30940 high-performance power management IC (PMIC) accompanied by a TCT current transformer featuring high-permeability ferromagnetic cores. The current transformer is clipped around the cable. The AC current it extracts via induction from the cable is subsequently converted into a DC current using rectification circuitry. The AEM30940 then utilises this to power the electronic system it is connected to.
Another benefit this solution offers is eliminating the need to send out engineers to replace batteries, thus saving operational expenses. This solution will be able to address industrial control/monitoring, building automation, smart grid, environment monitoring, etc.
“Our company has been working closely with e-peas for just over two years, and what we have been able to achieve will have major implications for the emerging IoT sector,” explains Alexandre Decombejean, Sales Manager at TCT. “The low cold-start capabilities of e-peas PMICs really provide the differentiation that we needed for this energy harvesting arrangement. Other devices would mean that too much of the available energy would simply be wasted.”
“The new three-phase cable energy harvesting hardware will give us access to a broad selection of different deployment possibilities, allowing battery-less operation to be implemented across a multitude of customer applications,” adds Christian Ferrier, e-peas’ CMO. “We envisage this solution being pivotal in enabling widespread implementation of smart factory and smart city projects around the world.”
