• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.1660-1671
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• 2013

In this paper two types of power management circuits for solar energy harvesting self-powered systems are proposed. First, if the output voltage of a solar cell is enough to drive load, a power management unit(PMU) directly supplies load with solar energy. Second, if a solar cell outputs very low voltage less than 0.5V as in miniature solar cells or monolithic integrated solar cells such that it cannot directly power the load, a voltage booster is employed to step up the solar cell's output voltage, and then PMU delivers the boosted voltage to the load. The proposed power management systems are designed and fabricated in a $0.18{\mu}m$ CMOS process, and their performances are compared and analyzed through measurements.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.69-74
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• 2010

Methodologies to improve photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) are reviewed. DSSC is usually composed of a dye-adsorbed $TiO_2$ photoanode, a tri-iodide/iodide redox electrolyte and a Pt counter electrode. Among the photovoltaic parameters of short-circuit photocurrent density, open-circuit voltage and fill factor, short-circuit photocurrent density is the collective measure of light harvesting, charge separation and charge collection efficiencies. Internal quantum efficiency is known to reach almost 100%, which indicates that charge separation occurs without loss by recombination. Thus, light harvesting efficiency plays an important role in improvement of photocurrent. In this paper, technologies to improve light harvesting efficiency, including surface area improvement by nano-dispersion, size-dependent light scattering efficiency, bi-functional nano material, panchromatic absorption by selective positioning of three different dyes and transparent conductive oxide (TCO)-less DSSC, are introduced.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.51-57
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• 2014

PURPOSES : An conventional method for electric power generation is converting thermal energy into mechanical energy then to electrical energy. Due to environmental issues such as global warming related with $CO_2$ emission etc., were the limiting factor for the energy resources which resulting in extensive research and novel technologies are required to generate electric power. Thermal energy harvesting using thermoelectric generator is one of energy harvesting technologies due to diverse advantages for new green technology. This paper presents a possibility of application of the thermoelectric generator's application in the direct exchange of waste solar energy into electrical power in road space. METHODS : To measure generated electric power of the thermoelectric generator, data logger was adopted as function of experimental factors such as using cooling sink, connection methods etc. Also, the thermoelectric generator、s behavior at low ambient temperature was investigated as measurement of output voltage vs. elapsed times. RESULTS : A few temperature difference between top an bottom of the thermoelectric generator is generated electric voltage. Components of an electrical circuit can be connected in various ways. The two simplest of these are called series and parallel and occur so open. Series shows slightly better performance in this study. An installation of cooling sink in the thermoelectric generator system was enhanced the output of power voltage. CONCLUSIONS : In this paper, a basic concepts of thermoelectric power generation is presented and applications of the thermoelectric generator to waste solar energy in road is estimated for green energy harvesting technology. The possibility of usage of thermoelectric technology for road facilities was found under the ambient thermal gradient between two surfaces of the thermoelectric module. An experiment results provide a testimony of the feasibility of the proposed environmental energy harvesting technology on the road facilities.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.7-12
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• 2018

The spread of IoT (Internet of Things) technology that connects objects based on wired / wireless networks is accelerating, and IoT-based smart home technology that constitutes a super connected network connecting sensors and home appliances existing inside and outside the home is getting popular. In addition, demand for alternative energy technologies such as photovoltaic power generation is rapidly increasing due to rapid increase of consumption of energy resources. Recently, small solar power systems for general households as well as large solar power systems for installation in large buildings are being introduced, but they are effectively implemented due to limitations of small solar panels and lack of power management technology. In this paper, we have studied smart home structure and IoT / IoL device discovery algorithm for energy harvesting system based on photovoltaic power generation, It is possible to construct an efficient smart home system for device control.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.2627-2635
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• 2013

In this paper micro-scale solar energy harvesting system with a new MPPT control are proposed. In conventional solar energy harvesting systems, continuous perturbation techniques of the clock frequency or duty cycle of a power converter have been used to implement MPPT(Maximum Power Point Tracking) control. In this paper, we propose a new MPPT technique to control the duty cycle of a power switch powering a power converter. The proposed circuit is designed in $0.35{\mu}m$ CMOS process, and the designed chip area including pads is $770{\mu}m{\times}800{\mu}m$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2015.10a
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• pp.397-400
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• 2015

In this paper a solar energy harvesting system with low-cost MPPT control for low duty-cycled sensor nodes is proposed. The targeted applications are environment, structure monitoring sensor nodes that are not required successively to operate, and MPPT(Maximum Power point Tracking) control using simple circuits is low-cost differently than existing MPPT control. The proposed MPPT control is implemented using linear relationship between the open-circuit voltage of a solar cell. The designed MPPT circuit traces the maximum power point by sampling periodically the open circuit voltage of the solar cell and delivers the maximum available power to the load. The proposed circuit is designed in 0.35um CMOS process. The designed chip area is $975um{\times}1025um$ including pads. Measured results show that the designed system can track the MPP voltage by sampling periodically the open circuit voltage of solar cell.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.804-812
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• 2015

Energy harvesting (EH) technology in the field of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is gaining increasing popularity through removing the burden of having to replace/recharge depleted energy sources by energy harvester devices. EH provides an alternative source of energy from the surrounding environment; therefore, by exploiting the EH process, WSNs can achieve a perpetual lifetime. In view of this, emphasis is being placed on the design of new medium access control (MAC) protocols that aim to maximize the lifetime of WSNs by using the maximum possible amount of harvested energy instead of saving any residual energy, given that the rate of energy harvested is greater than that which is consumed. Various MAC protocols with the objective of exploiting ambient energy have been proposed for energy-harvesting WSNs (EH-WSNs). In this paper, first, the fundamental properties of EH-WSN architecture are outlined. Then, several MAC protocols proposed for EH-WSNs are presented, describing their operating principles and underlying features. To give an insight into future research directions, open research issues (key ideas) with respect to design trade-offs are discussed at the end of this paper.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2013.10a
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• pp.743-746
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• 2013

Most of existing simulator for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) models the battery-based sensor and provides the MAC and routing protocols designed for the battery-based WSNs. Recently, however, as the energy harvesting sensor systems are studied widely, the require of the simulator for them is getting increased; but the related work is insignificant. Unlike the existing simulators, the simulator for the energy-harvesting WSNs requires the new energy model which is integrated with the energy-harvesting model, rechargeable battery model and energy-consuming model. Additionally, it should provide the well-known MAC and routing protocols designed for the energy-harvesting WSNs, and also provide the user-friendly interface for the convenient usage. In this work, we analysis the existing Castalia simulator and revise it for the user-friendly simulator for the solar energy harvesting WSNs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2013.10a
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• pp.371-374
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• 2013

In this paper, a sensor node circuit using solar energy harvesting is proposed. PMU(Power Management Unit) manages the energy converted from a solar cell. In order to supply a constant voltage to the sensor node, an LDO (Low Drop Out Regulator) is used. The LDO drives a temperature sensor and a SAR ADC(Successive Approximate Register Analog-to-Digital Converter). The circuit has been designed in 0.35um CMOS process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2013.10a
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• pp.379-382
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• 2013

In conventional solar energy harvesting systems, continuous perturbation techniques of the duty cycle or switching frequency of a power converter have been used to implement MPPT(Maximum Power Point Tracking) control. In this paper, we propose a new MPPT technique to control the duty cycle of a power switch powering a power converter. The proposed circuit is designed in 0.35um CMOS process, and the designed chip area including pads is $770um{\times}800um$.