Autonomous sensor systems and networks are predicted to become integral technologies in a wide area of applications, ranging from industrial automation to structural monitoring and smart cities. In many of these applications, the system needs to operate for long periods of time without access to a fixed power supply. With considerable maintenance, a high strain on the environment and strict limitations on operating conditions, existing battery technologies are not a desirable option in the long term.

Energy harvesting has become a competitive alternative for the supply of low-power electronic systems, utilizing ambient energy sources in the form of kinetic movements, thermal gradients or electromagnetic radiation. A number of commercial products are now available, but significant challenges still exist throughout the field: from more efficient or robust energy harvesters, through to the effective design and integration of systems, to the functionality of energy harvesting-powered applications.

In this Special Issue, we invite you to submit contributions covering any area of energy harvesting for sensor systems. This includes transducer design and optimization; system design, modeling and integration; as well as experimental verifications, case studies and field tests. Contributions supported by experimental results are particularly welcomed.


Topics:
- Energy harvesting transducers (e.g., photovoltaic, electromagnetic, piezoelectric, thermoelectric, triboelectric)
- Novel energy storage technologies
- Lifetime considerations for energy harvesting sensor systems
- Reliable and robust energy harvesting system design
- System integration, sizing of energy harvesting and storage devices, automated design tools
- Surveys or evaluations of feasibility of energy harvesting in real applications
- Comparison and standardized evaluation of energy harvester performance
- Self-powered systems and autonomous sensors
- Sensor systems and networks, including wake-up radios and low-power communications
- Energy-neutral or power-neutral systems
- Transient or intermittent computing
- Energy harvesting for the Internet of Things


Guest Editors
Dr. Sebastian Bader, Mid Sweden University, Sweden
Dr. Alex Weddell, University of Southampton, UK