Nanopower-Integrated Electronics for Energy Harvesting, Conversion, and Management

The increasing interest on pervasive sensor networks and the steady development of electronic devices with low power consumption motivates the research on electronic systems capable of harvesting energy from the surrounding environment. The use of microelectronic technologies allows a series of circuit optimizations paving the way toward the exploitation of sub-microwatt power regimes, thanks to the significant reduction of parasitics and to the efficiency of custom designed circuit topologies. This chapter reviews some of the most promising integrated circuits (ICs) for power harvesting, conversion, and management, achieved either by industry or academia, intended for exploiting several different types of energy transducers. The chapter reviews a specific case study consisting in a nanopower IC for harvesting power from multiple energy sources. It focuses on the advantages conferred by nanoelectronic ICs in this specific field. The chapter highlights recent achievements presented in scientific literature, with a special focus on nanopower-integrated solutions.