A High Efficiency Battery Charger with Maximum Power Point Tracking for Magnetic Energy Harvesters

Abstract:
Energy harvesting technologies are increasingly common as sources of energy for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Magnetic energy harvesting from power cables is a particularly promising technology for smart grid, infrastructure and environmental monitoring, and aerial robotic applications. This paper pre-sents a high-efficiency two-stage battery charger that utilizes an active bridge rectifier and a synchro-nous buck converter to reduce conversion losses. Efficient energy harvesting is achieved by tracking the maximum power point. Experimental results suggest that charging efficiency of up to 90% can be achieved while providing energy for high-energy demanding IoT applications.