Structural electronics (SE) is one of the most important emerging technologies in this century.

Energy harvesting is producing electricity where it is needed using ambient power. The term is most commonly applied to small devices such as in the emerging market for Wireless Sensor Networks that the Koreans call Ubiquitous Sensor Networks. However, there is emerging very large business for energy harvesting as structural electronics

The Internet of Things is of great excitement to many of the world's largest consumer electronics companies because they seek the "next big thing", with existing markets in smart phones, tablets and computing saturating.

Adds Experienced Manager to its Rapidly Growing Japan Team. Tokyo, Japan and Cambridge, UK - Oct. 20, 2014 - IDTechEx the leader in market research on emerging technologies today announced the expansion of its Japan office with the hiring of Mr. Yasuo Yamamoto as its head of business development in Japan.

Overall, the opportunity for energy harvesting will reach $2.6 Billion in the next decade according to IDTechEx research, with this year and next seemingly being key in starting the wave of increased product commercialization and volume growth.

Form factor is becoming a major driver shaping innovation and transforming the energy storage industry globally.

Graphene electrodes are one of the best prospects for enabling supercapacitors and superbatteries to take up to half of the lithium-ion battery market in 15 years - amounting to tens of billions of dollars yearly.

In recent years that interest has increased regarding new applications of power generation through thermoelectric harvesting. IDTechEx research forecasts that the market for thermoelectric energy harvesters will continue to grow and reach over $950 million by 2024.

A new kid on the block has broken into the smart windows and glass industry - and this time it's not a glass manufacturer!

Delegates from 23 countries will converge in Berlin on 1-2 April at Energy Harvesting & Storage - Europe's leading event on the topic. The event features end users across multiple verticals presenting and attending to discuss their key energy harvesting needs.

The worldwide interest in waste heat recovery continues to grow, with a wide range of applications ranging from small harvesters integrated into wireless sensor networks all the way to larger harvesters such as the ones that can potentially be integrated into cars.

The Internet of Things is dead. It should be the Internet of Everything. No, wait - what does that really mean?

The 5th IDTechEx Energy Harvesting & Storage and Internet of Things & Wireless Sensor Networks awards ceremony was held on Wednesday, 20 November, during the opening keynote session of the annual conference that brings together developers, integrators and end-users of these emerging technologies.

Next week the IDTechEx Energy Harvesting & USA 2013 event (www.EnergyHarvestingUSA.com ) will open in Santa Clara, CA - Nov 20-21.

IDTechEx is forecasting that the total market for energy harvesting devices will rise to $2.6 billion in 2024.

The term the Internet of Things was conceived when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology set up the Auto ID Center in 1998.

There has been varying levels of interest in different types of energy harvesters over the past few years. For powering small or mobile devices, photovoltaics dominate - they are widely produced, robust and relatively low cost.

The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) promises to redefine the way humans and machines interface and the way they interact with the world around them. Attributing a virtual signature to everyone and everything allows for new concepts of managing systems, optimizing processes and adding versatility to existing ways of exchanging information.

According to recent IDTechEx research on the topic of electrodynamic energy harvesting, almost 20 million devices will be sold in 2024 that will not be bicycle generators. Instead, they will be wireless switches, energy harvesters enabling wireless sensing in transport, industrial and building automation, devices that put the common alternator to work in market segments that there was previously no use for it.

The Japanese are working very hard on thermoelectric energy harvesting from tiny forms for use on hot running electronics components the 1.5 kW versions for use on furnace flues etc.