A Review of Start-Up Circuits for Low Voltage Self-Powered DC-Type Energy Harvesters

Abstract

Various start-up circuits (SUCs) for low input voltage self-powered direct current-type (DC-type) energy harvesters have been proposed in recent years, and their structures have been evolving and changing continuously. A general classification and systematic overview of SUCs are presented here. With the development of CMOS process technologies, recent advances in SUCs have paved the way for lower input voltage, simpler structures, lower cost, and better performance. So far, no works have given an overall description of SUCs for low input voltage self-powered energy harvesters. This work is intended to not only provide insights into the topologies of SUCs, but also make a conclusion which identifies their developing tendency.