An Auto-Configurable Dual-Mode MPPT for Energy Harvesting With 12 nW–180 mW Conversion Range

This brief presents an energy harvester IC with the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) scheme for an ultra-wide input power range. In the energy harvester, the proposed auto-configurable dual-mode MPPT algorithm adaptively switches between a fixed charge search (FCS) mode and a fixed frequency search (FFS) mode, according to the input power level. The implemented chip in 180nm CMOS process achieves the widest input power range of 12nW-to-180mW with a peak efficiency of 93.6%, occupying
$1.14\,\,{\times }\,\,1.24$
mm2. The proposed hill climbing-based MPPT scheme also shows a conversion efficiency of >30% even at 12nW input power while consuming a quiescent current of 2.2nA.