New Industry Products

Micro Analog Introduces Solar Cell Energy Harvesting System Manager

November 27, 2011 by Jeff Shepard

Micro Analog Systems Oy announced the MAS6011 Solar Cell Energy Harvesting System Manager. The MAS6011 monitors the supply voltage and charging of a battery-powered system containing a small solar cell. The current consumption of this IC is extremely low, 110nA, which means the system can charge from very low light conditions and also stay in power down mode for years and still operate directly from the battery before recharging.

To be able to charge a battery also in conditions with very limited light, a large solar cell is usually used. This can on the other hand easily destroy the battery due to over voltage during strong sun light. The MAS6011 solves this dilemma and will give secure protection of a secondary 3V battery over a big range of light strengths (lx).

The switching levels have been designed for usage with rechargeable 3V Lithium Vanadium (VL-type) batteries. Those batteries are compact, button-shaped, secondary batteries with very high energy compared to more traditional batteries. The self discharge rate is less than 2% a year which makes them very useful as a power source in systems that might be stored for a long time without re-charging.

Possible applications for MAS6011 include Wireless Sensor Modules, GPS Modules, Electronic locks, Watches, Energy Harvesting etc. The MAS6011 is available in a 6 pin QFN 3x3x0.75mm package and dies on tray. For further information and samples please contact Micro Analog Systems Oy.

The MAS6011 in the QFN package is priced at $0.83 or €0.66 @3K units. For others, please contact Micro Analog Systems or its distributor.

More news and information regarding the latest developments in Smart Grid electronics can be found at Darnell’s SmartGridElectronics.Net.