A Solar Energy Harvesting Circuit for Low Power Applications

In this paper we present a solar energy harvesting circuit for low-power applications describing circuit architecture and guidelines for an optimal design. We evaluate the performance of two implemented prototypes intended to power a wireless embedded system under different light intensities and different switching frequencies. Measurements show that higher switching frequencies allow reaching the maximum efficiency (~90%) at higher light intensities, whereas lower operating frequencies perform better under lower irradiance. Experimental results show that circuit optimization depends on light conditions and the proposed solar energy harvester can autonomously supply the nodes of a wireless sensor network WSN.