News

Nowi gets €1.5 Million to Develop Energy Harvesting Power Modules

March 27, 2018 by Paul Shepard

Nowi has received €1.5 million in funding from Disruptive Technology Ventures for the further development of their energy harvesting technology and finalization of the power module.

Besides this, industry leaders such as former KPN telecom CEO Ad Scheepbouwer will actively help the company in the further commercialization of the Nowi sensor technology.

"By getting energy from WiFi, GSM signals, light and movement that is all around us and effectively harnessing this to power sensors," explained CEO Simon van der Jagt.

"The Nowi power module eliminates the need for frequent battery changes or impractical cables. Instead it enables any sensor company to use external ambient energy sources and thereby reduce the need for maintenance. We call this Plug & Forget," concluded van der Jagt.

The Problem

Sensors are generally passive for long periods of time in which they 'sleep'. When they wake up, for a few milliseconds they require 10,000x more power. These extremely short power peaks deteriorate the battery life significantly reducing the battery life to only a fraction of its capacity.

  • Battery lifetime often between 6-18 months in practice
  • Cost per battery change around €35 per sensor including labor

Nowi's Solution

The Nowi power module eliminates the need for battery maintenance. Eliminating maintenance decreases sensor cost-of-ownership 7X. Key features of the Nowi power module include:

  • Minimum input voltage of 40mV
  • 92% dc-dc conversion efficiency
  • WiFi, GSM, PV, piezo-electric harvesting
  • 300nW-3uW gained continuously by energy harvesting
  • Hybrid battery-energy harvesting enabled