In 2011 the market for energy harvesters reached US$700 million, with the majority of the value going into consumer electronic applications, where energy harvesters have been used for some time. Approximately 1.6 million energy harvesters were used in wireless sensors, resulting in $13.75 million being spent on this market segment. The next few years will see a growth in the adoption of energy harvesting for wireless sensors with the market for industrial applications reaching US$140 million by 2017. Wireless sensor networks will be as big as US$200 million with bespoke military/aerospace applications reaching US$210 million (Market data taken from the IDTechEx report Energy Harvesting and Storage for Electronic Devices 2011-2021.
The volume of harvesters (in units) sold into each of the market segments will vary significantly, mainly because of the different size/power output/specifications for each harvester in each market segment. For example, military and aerospace applications will account for approximately 70,000 units of high value harvesters in 2017, whereas industrial applications will reach over 40 million units.
The energy harvesting market landscape:
Value in dollar and number of harvesters sold in 2011 and forecasted for 2017

Source: IDTechEx report "Energy harvesting and storage for electronic devices" www.idtechex.com/energy
Market drivers for growth
In the next few years we will be witnessing the emergence and growth of new markets which will drive further adoption and demand for energy harvesting solutions. Wireless sensor networks will lead to the realisation of implementation made possible through energy harvesting, with this being especially true in environments where either batteries are not allowed or their replacement is not possible. IDTechEx has identified the vivid interest in the sector and incorporates sessions on wireless sensor network technologies into its events on energy harvesting and storage technologies. The next event takes place in Berlin, Germany on the 15-16 of May 2012 (www.IDTechEx.com/EH).
The conference will also be focusing on another newly emerging technology, the use of thermoelectric generators in the automotive industry. This is a market segment that has attracted attention from many automotive manufacturers, who promise a range of vehicles will be available with waste heat recovery systems integrated in them in the next few years.
Other than the emergence of truly new applications, the integration of harvesters in complete devices further spurs the commercialisation of the technologies. Adopters now have a complete solution available rather than discrete components, making potential benefits easily identifiable with minimal difficulties or intricate device design required. Vermont-based sensor company MicroStrain, have technology that is an interesting example in monitoring vibrations, satisfying the needs of niche applications with completely bespoke solutions and vibration harvesters that are fully integrated.
Another interesting example of fully integrated devices are the wireless sensors being offered by KCF technologies. They have multi-modal harvesting options available, together with energy management, all fully integrated into vibration monitoring devices that can be retrofitted into existing operating equipment. The overall cost of these solutions is much lower than intricate high-end solutions made available from leading system integrators. These lower cost monitoring applications brought to market are another important market driver, realising energy harvesting in applications that do not have to necessarily be prohibitively expensive due to low initial volumes.
All these drivers will lead to the market for energy harvesters reaching over US$2 billion dollars by 2018, a number that is only indicative of the value of energy harvesters, not accompanying electronics, storage devices etc. that will also see significant growth and expansion into all market segments addressed by energy harvesting technologies.
For more information on the event Energy Harvesting and Storage 2012, please contact Mrs Corinne Jennings at c.jennings@IDTechEx.com
Top image source: Oregon State University