Harnessing Radio Frequency Energy for Self-Powered Devices

We live in a world filled with electronic signals: radio, TV, Wi-Fi and cell phone signals, just to name a few. Thanks to the invention of mobile devices, one of the major pushes in electronics has been to develop applications that run on very little power. So why not set up a little antenna to capture some of that Radio Frequency? It would be easy to obtain and utilize its power to slowly charge a battery. That’s the theory anyway, after all, a TV station radiates a huge amount of Radio Frequency and only a tiny fraction of it is dissipated for use in all the TV receivers that are tuned in. The rest of it is out there, hanging out, waiting to be harvested.

This article discusses the progress and the future direction in the field of RF energy harvesting. This technology is attracting a lot of attention and a promising future. RF energy harvesters open up new exciting possibilities in wireless communication and networking by enabling energy self-sufficient and environmentally friendly operation with practically infinite lifetimes.

There are various approaches to RF energy harvesting that will be needed to meet the future demand for self-powered devices. After all, our current battery sources are an exhaustible source and have an adverse environmental effect. An alternative solution is needed if we are to continue our demand for external power supplies.