Miniaturized Energy Harvesting Systems Using Switched-Capacitor DC-DC Converters

This tutorial brief reviews highly-integrated switched-capacitor (SC) DC-DC converter topologies for miniaturized energy harvesting (EH) IoT systems. Aiming to provide a concise overview of SC converter-based EH interfaces, we first discuss the system level design considerations for energy balancing between source, storage, and load under different environmental conditions. The key factors dominating the energy extraction and power conversion efficiencies, including the source adaptation strategies and SC power stage intrinsic losses, are outlined to establish a fundamental understanding on the EH system performance. After studying different state-of-the-art SC topologies in terms of their rational boost voltage conversion ratio (VCR) generation flexibility, loss characteristics, and implementation tradeoffs, we further introduce two advanced SC converter-based EH system examples, highlighting the SC converter operation in enhancing the EH system functionality and performance. The pros and cons of different SC converter topologies for EH systems will also be discussed.