Connected IoT devices are pervading all aspects of our daily lives and revolutionising diverse contexts such as energy, transportation, healthcare, buildings, and automotive, amongst many others. There is, however, a significant problem with the way these devices are powered, since a large proportion of them use disposable batteries. Almost all batteries use harmful materials that can be toxic and cause environmental hazards. In response to this problem, the European Union is tightening its regulations on the use of batteries in devices. Organisations and individuals are also seeking alternatives, owing to the environmental concerns related to using batteries. Energy Harvesting is a possible solution to this problem, where ambient energy sources are converted into electrical energy to power devices.
Additionally, all IoT devices that are powered by replaceable batteries with a defined lifespan are compromised by the lifespan of those batteries. When depleted, batteries must either be replaced, potentially at significant cost in the case of distributed devices for which a truck-roll might be required so that technicians can visit the device, or the device itself must be disposed of and potentially replaced.
In this report, we provide our view on the key IoT applications that can make use of energy harvesting. We have divided this report into four major sections. In Section 2, we discuss the concept of energy harvesting and different techniques for energy harvesting. Section 3 provides forecasts of IoT devices that can potentially make use of energy harvesting sources including RF, solar, kinetic, and thermal. In this section, we highlight the IoT applications that represent the biggest market opportunity for energy harvesting devices for each of the different harvesting approaches. In Section 4, we present examples of commercially available products across various sectors—such as Smart Buildings, AgTech, eHealth, and Digital Supply Chain—that are powered by energy-harvesting technologies, providing readers with insight into the current state of energy harvesting adoption in these sectors. In Section 5, we highlight the key players operating in the energy harvesting market.
