Energy harvesting PMIC from Nexperia

The NEH2000BY is a high-performance power management integrated circuit (PMIC) which recharges a battery or storage capacitor using energy harvested from ambient sources, such as light (which can be harvested using a photovoltaic cell). As a result, Nexperia’s NEH2000BY will enable the development of electronic devices that are self-powered, smaller, and environmentally friendly. Furthermore, this energy harvesting solution can help mitigate the environmental impact of the billions of batteries produced and discarded each year.

Nexperia’s NEH2000BY PMIC makes it much easier to design energy harvesting solutions which can be up to 20x smaller than other competing offerings and do not require manual optimisation for individual applications. In addition, the PMIC was designed without inductors, simplifying PCB design and significantly reducing overall BOM and board size, with a 12mm² assembly area.

To achieve the highest conversion efficiency, energy harvesting solutions must be able to adapt as the ambient energy source fluctuates. The NEH2000BY performs Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT), an adaptive algorithm to optimise how it transfers harvested energy and to achieve optimum average conversion efficiency by up to 80%. This unique MPPT algorithm combines speed with accuracy, allowing the PMIC to adapt to environmental changes in less than a second. This is significantly faster than any other currently available solution and maximises the amount of energy harvested over the course of a day, vastly expanding the number of application areas. Furthermore, due to its self-optimisation functionality and ability to operate autonomously without the requirement for pre-programming, the NEH2000BY makes it easier for designers to power devices with ambient energy.

Nexperia’s energy harvesting solutions enable economical energy harvesting from various ambient sources in applications consuming up to several milliwatts of power, including wireless IoT nodes, wearable smart tags, and electronic shelf labels.

Dan Jensen, General Manager Business Group Analog & Logic IC’s at Nexperia adds, “The NEH2000BY’s cost-efficient, user-friendly, and compact nature will allow the adoption of energy harvesting in a larger range of use cases. By eliminating the requirement to change batteries in these applications, NEH2000BY will significantly reduce the amount of hazardous waste produced, with enormous environmental benefits.”

The NEH2000BY is available in a 16-lead, 3x3mm QFN package and operates between -40°C and +85°C.