Energy Autonomous systems: Future Trends in Devices, Technologies and Systems

Energy Autonomous Systems may contribute to many applications in various sectors. Among them portable autonomous systems could open new endemic scenarios for wireless sensor networks, in situ monitoring for mobile/moving systems, body area networks, biomedical devices, portable power generation for mobile electronics. Special attention has been given to the market drivers for adopting energy harvesting devices in different market segments, factoring the progress of competing technologies and cost constraints. During the last year, several market reports on energy harvesting are on sale on specialized web sites. These reports describe challenges facing the current players, the current market trends and business models, but are weak in addressing the issue from the design and architecture point of view.