Ambient light or thermal energy harvesting devices provide energy with a wide voltage range for wireless sensors and other low power applications. To make this energy useful, it must be regulated at specific voltages required by other circuitry. STMicroelectronics SPV1050 is an ultra low-power energy-harvesting IC that provides both 1.8V and 3.3V regulators to power a microcontroller or wireless transmitter directly without requiring additional components. The buck-boost converter can handle an input-voltage range from 180mV to 8V.
Maximum Power-Point Tracking (MPPT) circuitry is available to continuously optimizes energy harvesting. In addition, battery-charging circuitry supports a wide variety of battery types including lithium-ion and lithium-polymer, lithium thin-film solid state, NiMH and NiCd, as well as supercapacitors.
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