Thin film batteries for energy harvesting

Abstract

Batteries are one solution for charge accumulation and storage of energy from harvesting and scavenging devices. Because many harvesting devices capture low levels of ambient energy, only very small batteries are required for most applications requiring energy storage and intermittent use. This chapter highlights the fabrication and performance of research batteries and recently commercialized thin film batteries (TFB) including the energy and power densities, charging requirements, cycle-life and shelf-life, and also oerformance at both high and low temperatures. With flexible charging models and excellent cycle life, thin batteries are very promising for paring with a variety of energy harvesting devices including solar cells and piezoelectrics. © 2009 Springer US.