A New Transformer-based Boost Structure with High Transfer Efficiency for Energy Harvesting

A new and efficient structure for thermal and solar energy harvesting is proposed in this paper. Compared with the traditional boost converter based on transformer, the converter adopts a depletion type and an enhanced NMOS parallel connection to control oscillation. Instead of using Zener diode to regulate the output voltage, a negative feedback loop is used innovatively for better performance. The simulation results show the conversion efficiency can be improved to 43% and keeps sustainable in the whole input voltage range. This design, implemented in a 0.5 μm CMOS process, can provide a maximum power of 60 mW with an input range of 200 mV to 800 mV at the regulated output voltage of 3 V.