Energy harvesting
One of the main challenges in architecting IoT solutions involves optimizing the usage of power consumption in field devices. However, this challenge can be mitigated by enabling field devices to operate perpetually by leveraging perennial sources of energy (such as solar energy). Harvesting energy from natural sources not only helps in avoiding the hassle of replacing batteries and related maintenance issues (such as battery leakage) but is also more aligned with sustainability guidelines.
Energy harvesting is achieved by tapping into different energy sources such as light, vibration, motion, thermal, electromagnetic, solar, wind, and more. Some of the more novel mechanisms of harvesting energy include converting human body heat or human motion into electricity so that it can be used to power sensors attached to a human’s body. Here, we represent it using the following image:
Figure 12.21 – Energy harvesting
