According to Darnell’s fourth-edition analysis of "Energy Harvesting & Related Energy Storage Devices, Worldwide Forecasts", the energy harvesting (EH) and wireless sensor market has been negatively impacted in the near-term by the general down-turn in the economy and particularly by the slow-down in the construction industry. At the same time, there has been acceleration in technology development in this sector.
The ability of energy harvesting devices to deliver increasing amounts of energy has grown faster than anticipated (for example Lightning™ devices from Face) and there has been a drop in the energy needs of sensors and related electronics. Those developments will make EH solutions more economically attractive, which will accelerate growth later in the period as the markets recover. For example, the Building Automation market will grow only 6.5% in the next 12 months, but is forecast to surge at 61% in the final 12 months of the period. Looking at Mechanical/Piezoelectric EH, Darnell sees a different growth pattern. That segment will grow 45.6% in the next 12 months (this is currently the fastest-growing form of EH) and will achieve nearly 60% annual growth between 2016 and 2017.
A study by Virginia Commonwealth University of the performance of the Lightning element used in the Lightning Switch® demonstrated that this inexpensive piezoelectric device can be a key component in a new generation of self-powered wireless sensors less expensive (by 50% or more) than products now on the market.
"Based on the data in the report," Darnell President Jeff Shepard stated, "Lightning can lead to self-powered sensors that are not only a lot less expensive ... but sensors that are a lot better. In many cases, the sensors will have more energy available to perform additional data collection, transmission and analytical functions."
Complete information on the fourth-edition analysis of "Energy Harvesting & Related Energy Storage Devices, Worldwide Forecasts" can be found here.
