Full-Day Workshop: Energy Harvesting is Out of the Lab
Sponsored by the SF Bay Area Chapter, IEEE Power Electronics Society
Co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley IEEE PELS-IAS Student Chapter and IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Silicon Valley Chapter

Abstract:
Did you think powering your applications with free, ambient energy by the utilization of EH solutions was only a dream that is still an academic lab experiment? Perhaps you thought EH cannot produce enough power to be practical for today’s applications. In fact, EH produces enough power across the spectrum, depending on the energy source, operating environment, and application. From nW to GW, there is a complete, production ecosystem of EH constituents (i.e. transducers, controllers/PMICs, energy storage) to enable today’s hottest applications in IoT, wearables, biotech, and even industrial applications.

In addition to the six speaking topics, there will be a functional demo expo to demonstrate a host of technologies is real-world applications of common interest. The objective here is to follow-up the knowledge gained from the workshop lectures with tangible demonstrations of various EH technologies and key applications.

Thursday, April 20, 2017
9:00am – 3:45pm: Workshop Sessions
3:45pm – 5:00pm: Functional Demo Expo (also at breaks during the day)ON Semiconductor
3001 Stender Way
Santa Clara, CA 95054

Registration Required!

Early Registration Fees: (FEES INCREASE APRIL 13th!)

• $60 PELS members
• $80 IEEE Members
• $100 Non-IEEE
• $0 Students

Note: Total registration limited to 50 people; students limited to 5 people

Join PELS for FREE and save $20!

Through 8/15/17, IEEE members can upgrade to a PELS membership through IEEE for free. Go to IEEE.org and enter code PELMBR2017 when you upgrade. You’ll get PELS membership for the rest of the year and you can register for this event using the PELS discounted rate.

Note: this code is good on IEEE.com and not Eventbrite; not good for non-IEEE members or existing PELS members.

If you have previously paid fees to attend previous PELS events and want to apply the credit towards this workshop, then please send your request directly to bz -at- powerrox.com . NOTE: if you pre-register, then do not show, your applied credit will be forfeited.

Event Sponsored by Wurth Electronics Midcom

Venue Sponsored by On Semiconductor

Workshop Schedule:

• 8:30am – 9:00am: Registration / Networking
• 9:10am – 10:00am: Session 1
• 10:00am – 10:10am: Coffee and Snack Break
• 10:10am – 11:00am: Session 2
• 11:05am – 11:55am: Session 3
• 11:55am – 1:00pm: Lunch and Demos
• 1:00pm – 1:50pm: Session 4
• 1:55pm – 2:45pm: Session 5
• 2:45pm – 2:55pm: Coffee and Snack Break
• 2:55pm – 3:45pm: Session 6
• 3:45pm – 5:00pm: Main Demo Expo
• 5:10pm – 5:30pm: Closing Remarks, Survey and Raffle

Functional Demo Expo Sponsored By

Wurth Electronics Midcom

Coilcraft

Alta Devices

Technical Talk Details

• Session 1: SOLAR FOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES, Instructed by Rodney Amen, Alta DevicesSolar power is everywhere, and we are only just learning the capabilities of this technology. We know solar can provide power to remote locations, but now solar is enabling continuous flight in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) serving many applications such as communications, monitoring, and dangerous missions. But not all solar is made equal, a thin-film GaAs solar array offers superior performance for UAVs because of its efficiency, size, and weight in a thin form factor.UAV solar electrical integration can be simple or complex depending on the designer’s desirable trade-offs. Examples will be analyzed of different strategies of solar UAV electrical integration. Regardless of the integration method, solar can enable aircraft to fly all day.
• SESSION 2: SYSTEM DESIGN FOR SELF-POWERED SENSORS, Instructed by Patrick Riehl, Analog DevicesWe are intrigued by the market possibilities of self-powered sensors, which draw all the energy they need from the ambient environment. Achieving this energy balance requires not only a sufficiently powerful energy harvester, but also an energy-efficient signal path and power path. In this presentation we walk through a few detailed examples including a machine-health monitor powered by waste engine heat. We discuss strategies for optimizing the energy efficiency of the signal path without losing critical information, and identify some common causes of wasted energy. We also show how ADI power management products can be used to optimize the energy efficiency of the system. Completing the model with an energy harvester, we discuss the feasibility of achieving perpetual self-powered operation.
• SESSION 3: INTRODUCTION TO THE ENERGY HARVESTING KIT, Instructed by Hebberly Ahatlan, Wurth MidcomEnergy harvesting has recently become a topic of much discussion with its potential to self-power autonomous devices for wearables, medical devices and for IoT. The technology has already progressed from the laboratory to commercial applications in areas such as wireless, solar, thermal and wind energies. Come learn how to implement solutions using energy harvesting using our kit that includes “ready-to-use” modules. In addition, learn how to select magnetics for your application that will maximize power efficiency.
• SESSION 4: APPLICATION OF THERMOELECTRIC DEVICES FOR INDUSTRIAL WASTE HEAT RECOVERY, Instructed by John Reifenburg, Alphabet EnergyAlphabet Energy is a pioneer in the field of thermoelectric waste heat recovery. This presentation will discuss the application of thermoelectric devices for power generation from gas flares, automobiles, and large generator set exhaust streams. It will highlight design tradeoffs and challenges in implementation of thermoelectric power generation systems and present bench top testing and field operation data from Alphabet Energy’s proprietary PowerModule and PowerCard technologies. It will conclude with a summary of the critical criteria for application of thermoelectric energy harvesting devices and the elements essential to an effective system.
• SESSION 5: POWER EXTRACTION CIRCUITS FOR OPTIMAL ENERGY HARVESTING, Instructed by Yogesh Ramadass, Texas InstrumentsWith the advent of IoT technology, a wide variety of electronic devices is expected to be deployed in often inaccessible places. Keeping these space-constrained devices powered up for their intended lifetimes is one of the primary concerns in the widespread adoption of this technology. In this talk, I will look at the energy needs of IoT devices, discuss the power delivery architecture and examine self-powered operation. The talk will delve into the basics of energy harvesting sources, storage mechanisms (batteries, supercapacitors) and the associated power management circuits needed (low-power DC/DC converters, chargers, cold-start circuits) to extend the operational lifetime of IoT devices.
• SESSION 6: Solving the Energy Harvesting and IoT Power Consumption Measurement Challenges, Instructed by Seshank Malap, TektronixThe Energy Harvesting or Scavenging has been slowly gaining traction with advancement sensor technology and rise in demand for low power autonomous sensors and IOT applications. By itself, IOT devices are expected to exceed 20 billion units by 2020 and continue to have double-digit growth rates. Many of these devices will be wearable devices, portable medical devices, and battery-operated industrial sensor/transmitters and can benefit hugely from energy harvesting technologies. The core premise for success of these technologies is optimum energy generation, storage and consumption. To meet the design requirements, the designer needs to be able to determine the total power that energy harvesting can generate, store and the power that the end device will consume. It’s important to characterize storage system and precisely measure the power and load profiles in all these operation states. The harvester’s generation current and load current profiles can range for low micro amps to high amps depending on the end application. Furthermore the currents can be short bursts that can last for only 10’s of microseconds when the device harvesting energy or transmitting data. High sensitivity and speed are required to capture such load and power profiles. The storage component (batteries) also need to be precisely characterized for charge and discharge cycles to understand its role in the total system.

About the Speakers

• Rodney Amen is a Senior Technical Marketing Engineer for Alta Devices focusing on the IoT and Wearables markets. He has developed several solar application demonstrations and specializes in energy harvesting electronics. Mr. Amen has a BSEE from the University of the Pacific, and previously has consumer electronic development experience with Apple (Macintosh computers), Microsoft (Xbox), and Amazon Lab126 (Kindle).
• Dr. Patrick Riehl is the technical lead for power management under the ultra-low-power strategy at Analog Devices in Wilmington, Massachusetts, specializing in ultra-low-power system architecture, energy harvesting and wireless power transfer. From 2008 to May 2016, he was a technical manager with MediaTek in Woburn, Massachusetts, specializing in power IC design and wireless power. Patrick is a Senior Member of IEEE. He received the B. A. in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College in 1996 and the M. S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley in 1999 and 2002, respectively
• Hebberly Ahatlan tours the Americas educating audiences about EMC issues and the passive components needed to solve them in three languages through technical seminars. He currently works at Wurth Elektroniks where he helps designers in Canada, USA and Mexico solve and prevent EMI issues as well as improve power supply efficiency. He put his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from UCLA to good use for 11 years in the areas of IC mixed-signal product design, technical market research and field applications engineering. He will enthrall you, bewilder you and ultimately educate you on many topics related to passive filtering, magnetics, and power design
• John Reifenburg has over a decade of experience in nanotechnology, process development and materials characterization. He has co-authored over 25 peer-reviewed conference and journal papers, and holds numerous patents in fields ranging from semiconductor devices to consumer products. John has utilized his expertise in advanced materials, thermal physics and mechanical engineering to accelerate the commercial development of products in the semiconductor and biomedical industries. As a Senior Process Engineer at Intel, John developed state-of-the-art characterization techniques for non-volatile memory technologies, and he advanced e-beam lithography and automation processes for sub-22 nm manufacturing. John holds an M.S. and a Ph.D from Stanford University, as well as a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. In his free time John enjoys spending time with his family and supporting Stanford football.
• Yogesh Ramadass received his B. Tech. degree from IIT-Kharagpur and the SM and PhD degrees from MIT all in Electrical Engineering. He is currently the director of power management R&D at Kilby Labs, Texas Instruments, where he is involved in research efforts looking into high power density automotive and industrial switchers, high frequency multi-phase converters, energy harvesting ICs and high voltage power systems.
  Dr. Ramadass was awarded the President of India Gold Medal in 2004 and the EETimes Innovator of the Year award in 2013. He was a co-recipient of the Jack Kilby best student paper award at ISSCC 2009 and the Beatrice Winner award for editorial excellence at ISSCC 2007. He is a senior member of the IEEE and serves as an associate editor of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits and on the Technical Program Committee for the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference and the IEEE Symposium on VLSI Circuits.

We look forward to having you join us.
NOTE: This event is sponsored by the SFBAC IEEE PELS chapter and co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley IEEE PELS-IAS Student Chapter.