November 3, 2009 -- At the recent Energy Harvesting & Storage USA conference in Denver, CO, Infinite Power Solutions, Inc. (IPS), a developer of solid-state, rechargeable, thin-film energy storage devices, formally unveiled its Infinergy Micro Power Module (MPM) products. According to the company, the Infinergy MPMs are miniaturized "plug and play" power modules with integrated power management and solid-state energy storage capability, that simplify the design and adoption of self-powered, micro-electronic systems using ambient energy.
IPS contends that most ambient energy harvesting transducers do not provide adequate peak power or the power reliability needed to perpetually power micro-electronic applications requiring autonomy, such as wireless sensor nodes, active RFID and RTLS tags, consumer wireless remote controls or security systems.
The Infinergy MPMs, when combined with ambient energy harvesters, address this gap by accumulating energy from low power, intermittent energy from harvesting devices, efficiently managing that energy without active electronics, storing that energy in a near loss-less storage device, and providing high discharge currents with a regulated output voltage required by the target application.
"Infinergy Micro Power Modules represent the most efficient and powerful integrated power management and solid-state energy storage solution to enable perpetually-powered systems using all forms of ambient energy harvesting," comments Tim Bradow, IPS' vice president of technical marketing and business development. "They greatly simplify the design effort to incorporate energy harvesting, requiring only a 2-wire interface, and supports both AC and DC inputs simultaneously.
The MPM products are designed specifically for variable AC and DC charge energy from common energy harvesting devices, and designed to outlive and outperform conventional rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors. The MPMs serve a variety of off-grid applications, including autonomous wireless sensors, actuators, smart building and factory automation systems, Real Time Clock (RTC) and memory backup power systems, active RFID tags, and Real Time Locating Systems (RTLS).
The company maintains that, when combined with energy harvesting devices, such as photovoltaic cells, piezo-electric materials, or thermal-electric generators, the MPMs are continually recharged and provide perpetual power that lasts the lifetime of the system, thus eliminating the cost of conventional battery replacement.
The Infinergy MPMs feature three functional elements: near loss-less energy storage, highly efficient power management electronics, and regulated output voltage -- all in a miniaturized footprint.
For the energy storage element, IPS leverages its Thinergy Micro-Energy Cell (MEC) products to provide superior energy storage performance with high continuous discharge current (compared to coin cells), ultra-low self-discharge rate (<1% charge loss per year), and a cycle life greater than 10,000 cycles at 100% depth of discharge.
IPS' patent-pending, Passive Power Management Unit (PPMU) serves as the power management element. The ultra-efficient PPMU provides a simplified electronic interface between the ambient energy harvester and the Thinergy MEC. While charging the MEC, the PPMU circuit consumes less than 3nA, allowing charge efficiencies greater than 98%.
In addition to providing the raw battery output, the MPMs feature an integrated Low Drop Out (LDO) voltage regulator tailored to the voltage requirements of micro-electronic applications, such as the micro-processor and radio integrated circuits used in wireless sensors.
All together, contends the company, the elements of an Infinergy MPM create an efficient, long-lasting power management and energy storage solution for remote/off-grid applications that leverage energy harvesting.
The Infinergy MPM101 is packaged in a 20-pin SMT configuration that can be "pick & placed" and reflow soldered to a PCB for volume manufacturing. It is ultra-thin (<3mm) and compact with a footprint of 29mm x 29mm.
The D-MPM101 is a system development version that has the same functionality as the MPM101, but is packaged in a multi-connector configuration and comes with mating connectors and pig-tail wiring harnesses for rapid system prototyping. This module has a thickness of 4mm and a footprint of 25mm x 26mm.
Both MPMs are available with options for discharge current, discharge capacity and output regulator voltage.
"Their miniature size, negligible leakage current, and decades of service life make Infinergy MPMs the ideal choice for off-grid, self-powered applications," concludes IPS's Bradow. "The MPMs change the paradigm for what is possible in designing electronic devices, enabling the development of 'green electronics' that rely only on power from the environment."
On the Web: www.InfinitePowerSolutions.com
