Perpetual environmentally powered sensor networks

Environmental energy is an attractive power source for low power wireless sensor networks. We present Prometheus, a system that intelligently manages energy transfer for perpetual operation without human intervention or servicing. Combining positive attributes of different energy storage elements and leveraging the intelligence of the microprocessor, we introduce an efficient multi-stage energy transfer system that reduces the common limitations of single energy storage systems to achieve near perpetual operation. We present our design choices, tradeoffs, circuit evaluations, performance analysis, and models. We discuss the relationships between system components and identify optimal hardware choices to meet…