Chandler, Ariz. — Microchip Technology Inc. has partnered with Cymbet Corp. to provide what it claims as the first customizable energy harvesting application development kit, leveraging Microchip’s eXtreme Low Power PIC microcontrollers with Cymbet’s energy harvesting technology.
The XLP 16-bit Energy Harvesting Development Kit includes a modular development board populated with the PIC24F16KA102 microcontroller and offers the capability to add PICtail daughter boards to evaluate a variety of system functions, including ZigBee and proprietary wireless connectivity, and SD memory cards.
The PIC microcontroller’s eXtreme Low Power technology allows users to gain the longest possible operation from the included Cymbet EnerChip EH Eval-08 Energy Harvesting Board, which harvests solar energy that is stored in the EnerChip solid-state, rechargeable energy-storage devices.
Power condition and capacity are monitored by software algorithms developed by Microchip and Cymbet. The monitored information can be reported to a PC user interface via a USB connection. Complete energy harvesting application firmware can be fully developed using the included PICkit 3 programmer/debugger.
Energy harvesting enables designers to extend the life of their battery-powered applications, or eliminate batteries altogether, by scavenging energy from sources such as the sun or ambient indoor light, said Microchip.
The XLP 16-bit Energy Harvesting Kit provides a customizable development platform for designers to build and test their solar energy harvesting applications, without having to design any hardware, said Microchip. Example applications include portable consumer electronics, remote sensor networks, utility meters and portable medical devices.
Availability: The XLP 16-bit Energy Harvesting Kit (part # DV164133) is available exclusively through Digi-Key at http://www.microchip.com/get/FKAT
Pricing: $195.
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