Energy Harvesting Cycle Animation
Energy Harvesting Cycle Animation
Watch an IoT node harvest ambient energy, buffer it in storage, regulate it, and decide whether the load can run continuously.
Energy Harvesting Cycle Animation
Follow one packet of ambient energy as it moves from the environment into a harvester, through storage and regulation, and finally into an IoT load. The design only works when average harvest and reserve storage both match the load.
Goal
See how energy moves through the full system, not just how much the source can produce.
Try First
Press Step through the stages, then switch to RF tag and increase duty cycle.
Watch
The moving token, storage trace, numeric metrics, and warnings update together.
Why It Matters
Energy harvesting fails when the load is too high, the source is intermittent, or reserve storage is too small.
Controls
Choose a deployment scenario, then adjust source strength, duty cycle, storage, and reserve target.
Flow View
The moving energy token shows how ambient energy becomes regulated power for the IoT node.
Live Cycle Decision
Outdoor solar can support periodic sensing when storage covers nights and poor weather.
The selected cycle has enough average harvest and reserve storage under the classroom assumptions.
Energy Balance
Average harvest must exceed average load after conversion losses.
2.93 mW harvest vs 188 uW loadStorage Role
Storage handles the time mismatch between source availability and load demand.
50 mWh gives 266 h reserveLoad Discipline
Duty cycle keeps active work short so sleep power dominates the day.
1.0% active dutyBeginner Ramp
The cycle is a chain. A strong source is not enough if another stage is weak.
- Source: environment provides raw energy.
- Harvester: transducer and converter make electrical energy usable.
- Storage: reserve energy bridges gaps.
- Load: duty cycle controls how fast stored energy is consumed.
Core Formulas
Usable peak: Pusable = Praw x conversion efficiency.
Average harvest: Pavg = Pusable x useful hours / 24.
Average load: Pload = Pactive x duty + Psleep x (1 - duty).
Autonomy: reserve hours = storage energy / average load.
Quick Reference
- Positive daily balance means storage can recover after normal cycles.
- Reserve margin handles night, still machines, cloud, low delta-T, or weak RF exposure.
- RF and indoor-light systems usually require very low duty cycle.
Source Notes
Solar varies by light and area. Vibration depends on tuning and mounting. Thermal depends on sustained temperature difference. RF harvesting depends on proximity, antenna match, and rectifier losses.
Storage Notes
Supercapacitors handle many cycles and fast charge, but hold less energy. Rechargeable cells hold more energy, but need protection, charge control, and cycle-life checks.
Accuracy Notes
This is a teaching model. A real design must measure the actual source profile, converter startup behavior, leakage, temperature effects, load bursts, and worst-case reserve need.
Practice 1
Select RF tag and raise active duty. Notice which warning appears first.
Practice 2
Select machine vibration and reduce useful hours. Decide whether harvest or reserve is the limiting factor.
Practice 3
Select outdoor sensor, then reduce storage until night reserve becomes the problem.