Addressing the need for streamlined power management solutions for energy harvesting hardware, e-peas has unveiled a new family of battery charger devices. While the company’s existing power management ICs (PMICs) offer direct power delivery to the application, as well as the charging of energy storage elements (such as Li-Ion batteries or super-capacitors), the AEM10900, AEM10300 and AEM30300 are fully dedicated to the charging function. This allows them to be employed in situations that need a simpler implementation, where there are space or cost constraints that need to be considered. The PMICs are able to achieve zero quiescent current draw from the battery – meaning that if energy harvesting stops for a prolonged period of time, the energy stored in the battery will not be wasted supplying the PMIC.
Working in conjunction with a single-cell photovoltaic panel, the highly integrated AEM10900 PMIC boost converter is optimized for solar-based energy harvesting implementations. Through its super-fast power point tracking (MPPT) functionality specially set for objects in movement, this device is able to ensure that it gets the most energy from the ambient illumination available – so as much as possible can be stored. In addition, it has a 250mV cold start capability, which means it can commence with charging the battery even when light intensities are very low. AEM10900 introduces an I2C interface to minimize the pin count and to offer a larger set of potential configurations. It offers an array of features, including battery thermal protection, a joule counter to let the user know the amount of energy harvested, plus a shipping mode in which the battery cannot be charged. Key applications from this PMIC will be wearable consumer products and body-worn medical monitoring equipment.
AEM10900 Highlights
Ultra-low-power start-up
- Cold start from 250 mV input voltage and 5 μW input power (typical)
Highly efficient energy extraction
- Periodic open-circuit voltage sensing for Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT);
- Configurable MPPT ratios of 35, 50 and from 60 to 90% by 5% steps;
- Constant impedance matching (QFN package only);
- Configurable MPPT sensing timing and period;
- MPPT voltage operation range from 115 mV to 1.5 V.
Read more: E-PEAS BATTERY CHARGERS TARGET WEARABLE, MEDICAL AND SENSOR PRODUCTS
