Energy Harvesting

Our civilization relies entirely on access to energy. To the extent that humans may really become extinct if a major energy disaster happens. At the same time there are more and more examples of devices and subsystems that harvest energy for their own use.

Not looking very far, we are using Bluetooth kinetic-powered switches in our office. On the outside they look just like regular wall switches, except that there is no hole in the wall behind the switch. It looks effectively like a front plate of a switch - the "plasticky" thing and when pressed generates enough power to wake up the processor, do a number of fairly complex computations (security!) and send several packets over the radio. It essentially lives forever.

A number of developments have been recently announced in the area of RF (radio frequency) energy harvesting. Wiliot has launched its 2nd generation RF-powered Bluetooth tag (includes sensors and works by harvesting RF noise). If they work as advertised without requiring to "pump" thousands of Gauss into the air where they live, this will be a mind blowing breakthrough, as essentially a Bluetooth sensor will be reduced to a battery-free sticker that could be attached to anything.

Wiliot is still not making use of the latest breakthroughs in using 2-D (an atom - thick) rectifier diodes that enable harvesting even the tiniest traces of RF energy.

But even (or maybe especially) when moving outside of a high-tech developed areas and going to remote mountains, like we did last year in  Caucasus, Georgia, you can find communities thriving on solar power. Back in mid-1900s, there was a high voltage line reaching to the Tusheti region. Later when the line was ruined, the villages were deprived of electric power until cheap solar panels arrived in 2000's. Today every household has a fridge (yes, a regular electric fridge), electric (LED) lights and cellphones all run by a bunch of solar panels.

There is something magical about regular devices like switches or sensors or refrigerators running on their own "forever". Spoiled by the "everything is possible nowadays" consumerism many do not appreciate these marvels. But in many ways energy harvesting is significantly reshaping our Planet.