RF Thermoelectric Generator

About

Georgia Tech inventors have explored the original design of an RF-driven thermoelectric generator and demonstrated a possible pathway to a purely passive tag with greater than 100m range. This thermodynamic analysis on RF-to-DC energy conversion indicates that state-of-the-art energy-harvesting circuitry is not operating anywhere close to the fundamental physical limits of these processes. Furthermore, at low RF voltage and power levels, a solid-state RFTG device is predicted to outperform the state-of-the-art energy-harvesting circuits at 915 MHz in terms of efficiency and output voltage for RF inputs of -30 dBm or less. This RFTG illustrates the benefits of considering RF energy harvesting techniques that are not all-electrical in nature. In our age of limitless nanotechnological devices and micro electro-mechanical machines (MEMS), other exotic forms of RF-to-DC conversion with non-electrical intermediary forms may exist which have similar benefits to the RFTG.