Printed Electrochemical Capacitors for Energy Scavenging Sensor Networks

The application of energy scavenging technology significantly improves wireless sensor network nodes long-term operation and ensures minimal user attendance. For most of the scavenging technologies, ambient energy is available only under particular environmental conditions. For this reason, wireless sensor nodes have to keep the scavenged energy in storage elements. In this paper we present a kind of electrochemical capacitors manufactured using the direct write technology. This technology allows the supercapacitors to be printed directly on board of the sensor nodes. The experimental results on scavenging outdoor solar radiation and indoor light, stored on the printed capacitors, demonstrate high potential in terms of supplying the sensor nodes. © 2012 IEEE.