{Comparison of DC-DC-converter architectures of power management circuits for thermoelectric generators}

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Title	{Comparison of DC-DC-converter architectures of power management circuits for thermoelectric generators}
Publication Type	Conference Paper
Year of Publication	2007
Authors	Doms I., Merken P., Van Hoof C.
Conference Name	2007 European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications, EPE
Keywords	Converter circuit, Power conditioning, Power integrated circuit, Power management, Voltage source converter
Abstract	Future wireless sensor nodes will, for certain applications, require only a few microwatts of energy. Micro-machined thermoelectric generators can produce such amount of electrical energy, but variations in the generated power and voltage make a power management circuit necessary to generate a suitable power supply for the sensor node. This paper compares 2 options for such a circuit. We present one power management circuit for a thermoelectric generator that contains a DC-DC-converter with an inductor and one with capacitors. The converter with inductor has the advantage that the conversion factor can be set very precise. But for an efficient implementation, a large inductor is required. This inductor prevents the solution from being small and efficient at the same time. The use of an integrated charge pump however, will allow a more efficient circuit than a DC-DC-converter with an integrated inductor, even though the conversion factor is less flexible. Ultimately, the type of application will impose the type of DC-DC-converter that will be used.