Modelling and Analysis of Energy Harvesting in Internet of Things (IoT): Characterization of a Thermal Energy Harvesting Circuit for IoT based Applications with LTC3108

Abstract

This paper presents a simulation-based study for characterizing and analyzing the performance of a commercially available thermoelectric cooler (TEC) as a generator for harvesting heat energy along with a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) power management integrated circuit (PMIC); LTC3108. In this model, the transformation of heat was considered in terms of an electrical circuit simulation perspective, where temperature experienced by TEC on both cold and hot sides was incorporated with voltage supply as Vth and Vtc in the circuit. When it comes to modeling a system in a simulation program with an integrated circuit emphasis (SPICE) like environment, the selection of thermoelectric generator (TEG) and extraction methods are not straightforward as well as the lack of information from manufacturer’s datasheets can limit the grip over the analysis parameters of the module. Therefore, it is mandatory to create a prototype before implementing it over a physical system for energy harvesting circuit (EHC) optimization. The major goal was to establish the basis for devising the thermal energy scavenging based Internet of Things (IoT) system with two configurations of voltage settings for the same TEG model. This study measured the data in terms of current, voltage, series of resistive loads and various temperature gradients for generating the required power. These generated power levels from EHC prototype were able to sustain the available IoT component’s power requirement, hence it could be considered for the implementation of IoT based applications.