A survey of energy harvesting sources for embedded systems

Historically, batteries have been the source of energy for most mobile, embedded and remote system applications. Now, with ubiquitous computing requirements in the fields of embedded systems, wireless sensor networks and low-power electronics such as MEMS devices, an alternative source of energy is required. Also with the limited capacity of finite power sources and the need for supplying energy for a lifetime of a system, there is a requirement for self-powered devices. The process of extracting energy from the surrounding environment is termed as energy harvesting. Energy harvesting, which originated from the windmill and water wheel, is widely being considered as a low-maintenance solution for a wide variety of applications. There are various forms of energy that can be scavenged, like thermal, mechanical, solar, acoustic, wind, and wave. This paper serves as a survey for identifying the sources of energy harvesting based on various technical papers available in the public domain.