title: Energy Options for Wireless Sensor Nodes.
abstract: Reduction in size and power consumption of consumer electronics has opened up many opportunities for low power wireless sensor networks. One of the major challenges is in supporting battery operated devices as the number of nodes in a network grows. The two main alternatives are to utilize higher energy density sources of stored energy, or to generate power at the node from local forms of energy. This paper reviews the state-of-the art technology in the field of both energy storage and energy harvesting for sensor nodes. The options discussed for energy storage include batteries, capacitors, fuel cells, heat engines and betavoltaic systems. The field of energy harvesting is discussed with reference to photovoltaics, temperature gradients, fluid flow, pressure variations and vibration harvesting.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Energy Technology, PO Box 330, Newcastle NSW 2300, Australia. chris.knight@csiro.au.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.affiliation: School of Maths, Physics & Information Technology, James Cook University, Townsville QLD 4811, Australia. joshua.davidson@jcu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Energy Technology, PO Box 330, Newcastle NSW 2300, Australia. sam.behrens@csiro.au.
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Behrens
keywords: Energy Harvesting; Energy Storage; Sensor Nodes; Wireless Sensor Networks