Method and system for energy reclamation and reuse
View Patent ↗The present invention relates to a system and method for harvesting ambient electromagnetic energy, and more particularly, to the integration of antennas and electronics for harvesting ubiquitous radio frequency (RF) energy, transforming such electromagnetic energy into electrical power, and storing such power for usage with a wide range of electrical/electronic circuits and modules.
1. A method for harvesting and utilizing electromagnetic energy, comprising:
receiving ambient electromagnetic energy;
converting the ambient electromagnetic energy into DC electrical power;
charging a power storage component with the DC electrical power, the power storage component comprises a N×M array of battery micro-cells, N and M are natural numbers;
providing a device power source for powering an electrical device; and
drawing power from the power storage component to power the electrical device, the drawing power from the power storage component to power the electrical device includes:
determining a charged P×Q sub-array of the N×M array of battery micro-cells, P and Q are natural numbers less than N and M, respectively; and
drawing power from the charged P×Q sub-array to power the electrical device.
2. The method of claim 1 , the charging the power storage component with the DC electrical power comprises includes:
charging at least one remaining micro-cell of battery in the N×M array that is not in the charged P×Q sub-array;
substituting the P×Q sub-array with the at least one remaining micro-cell of battery once the P×Q sub array is depleted of power; and
charging the depleted P×Q sub-array with the DC electrical power.
3. The method of claim 2 , the drawing power from the power storage component to power the electrical device further includes:
drawing power from the at least one remaining charged micro-cell of battery to power the electrical device.