Energy harvesting wireless modules for IoT applications

'868 MHz EnOcean' for Europe, '902 MHz EnOcean' for North America and '928 MHz EnOcean' for Japan. 

The Dolphin portfolio also contains wireless modules for ZigBee and BLE systems on the 2.4GHz band, which can be used globally in smart homes and for modern light control. This comprehensive range of products from EnOcean enables product manufacturers to develop reliable and self-powered wireless sensor solutions for the Internet of Things. The company thus strengthens its position as the world's leading supplier of energy harvesting wireless technology that combines energy converters with low power electronics based on open wireless standards.

The battery-free Internet of Things
The Dolphin modules use the energy harvesting principle, in which energy is obtained from the surroundings, to supply self-powered wireless sensor networks. The modules are based on miniaturised energy converters that convert motion, light or temperature differences into electrical energy. Together with an efficient energy management system, the energy harvesting technology facilitates communication between maintenance-free IoT devices based on open wireless standards, such as EnOcean, ZigBee and BLE. The solutions are used in building automation, smart homes, LED light control systems as well as industrial applications.

"Networked devices form the basis of the Internet of Things. They process large volumes of sensor data to make our everyday lives easier, safer and more comfortable," explained Wald Siskens, CEO of EnOcean. "Our Dolphin modules are a key component of this extensive network: self-powered, wireless sensors that provide reliable sensor data for IoT systems."

Self-powered wireless sensor networks increase system capacity by reducing outages caused by batteries, which means less maintenance work is required. They also help conserve resources and permit sustainable solutions, since fewer cables and batteries are needed. Batteries, in particular, are expensive to maintain, harm the environment and have to be disposed of regularly.

Energy harvesting wireless sensor solutions based on the EnOcean wireless standard on the sub 1GHz band (ISO/IEC 14543-3-1x) have been in use for the past 15 years. EnOcean technology has already been installed in more than 400,000 buildings around the world. As a partner to the EnOcean Alliance, which has more than 400 members active in the area of building automation, EnOcean offers its customers the benefits of an ecosystem consisting of interoperable energy harvesting wireless sensor solutions. Due to the continuous further development of system solutions with maintenance-free wireless switches and sensors, the extensive EnOcean ecosystem helps make buildings more flexible, more energy-efficient and more cost-effective.

Smart solutions for the Internet of Things
The development of a solution for the IoT sector is one example of the successful collaboration between companies in the EnOcean ecosystem who rely on the EnOcean wireless standard: Together with its partners, element14, Digital Concepts and IBM, EnOcean has launched a certified kit called 'Intelligent Building – Self-powered IoT Solution' with batteryless EnOcean-based wireless sensors. The kit's Enterprise Edition for the real estate business provides easy connection to the IBM Watson IoT platform as well as IBM's Bluemix service and TRIRIGA facility management software for securely networking and managing devices, analysing data and using cognitive services.

The Dolphin portfolio from EnOcean for maintenance-free wireless sensor solutions
EnOcean GmbH will continue to expand its Dolphin product portfolio. In October 2016, EnOcean launched energy harvesting wireless modules for use in ZigBee and BLE systems on the 2.4GHz band alongside the established sub 1GHz EnOcean wireless technology. Thanks to the low power consumption of the EnOcean technology, the batteryless sensors and switchers are perfectly suited to use in smart buildings.

The product lines '868 MHz EnOcean' for Europe, '902 MHz EnOcean' for North America and '928 MHz EnOcean' for Japan consist of batteryless, radio-based switch, sensor and receiver modules as well as various tools. They are based on the EnOcean wireless standard introduced by the EnOcean Alliance (ISO/IEC 14543-3-1X) on the sub 1GHz band, which has proven to be a resounding success in building automation and smart homes, due to its high reliability and a radio range of up to 30m. Standardised sensor profiles help ensure the interoperability of more than 1,500 products from the EnOcean ecosystem, which makes it possible to develop interoperable system solutions.

The Dolphin portfolio also includes the '2.4 GHz ZigBee' product line with energy harvesting wireless switch modules as well as a wireless receiver for ZigBee systems in the 2.4GHz band, which can be used in smart home applications all over the world. Moreover, the '2.4 GHz BLE' portfolio includes a wireless switch module for BLE systems for modern light control. Radio-based 2.4GHz BLE sensors will also be available, starting in 2017.