Highly sensitive rectifier for efficient RF energy harvesting

© 2014 European Microwave Association. RF (Radio Frequency) energy harvesting is a promising technique to provide a sustainable energy source for the long-term conservation of the environment and the global economy. To address this, we proposed an efficient rectifier over a wide low input RF power range (-40 to -10 dBm) for broadcasting band (520- 590 MHz) to determine the usefulness of exploiting freely available RF energy sources in this band. The input reflection coefficient and rectified output power demonstrate the practical feasibility of this low-power rectification technique. Power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 53% and 1.5% are achieved for a single-tone input power of -10 dBm and -40 dBm respectively. Therefore, this innovative technique has the potential to generate a viable perpetual energy source for low power applications in urban environments.