• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.954-959
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• 2012

A hybrid switch that uses a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch as a gate driver of a MOSFET is applied to an energy harvesting system. The power management circuit adopting the hybrid switch provides ultralow leakage, self-referencing, and high current handling capability. Measurements show that solar energy harvester circuit utilizing the MEMS-MOSFET hybrid switch accumulates energy and charges a battery or drive a resistive load without any constant power supply and reference voltage. The leakage current during energy accumulation is less than 10 pA. The power management circuit adopting the proposed hybrid switch is believed to be an ideal solution to self-powered wireless sensor nodes in smart grid systems.