Self-powered wireless sensors – the data suppliers for digitalized buildings

At booth P-1.B74 (Smart Buildings Alliance), EnOcean will be presenting the latest generation of its market-leading energy harvesting wireless technology.

Oberhaching/Cannes – February 28, 2019

EnOcean is the world’s leading developer of energy harvesting wireless technology. At MIPIM 2019 (March 12–15, Cannes, France), the company will be demonstrating its latest innovations that will further drive the use of self-powered wireless sensor solutions for digitalizing buildings and facility management services. Wireless sensors based on the EnOcean technology are the eyes and ears of the IoT, as they collect the required raw data for intelligent control, without any need of a battery. With the modular PTM switch module, EnOcean has established an industry standard and the core piece of battery-free switches. As a show highlight, EnOcean will be introducing new solar-powered, maintenance-free sensor modules for a wide range of building data that fit into classic switch frames based on the PTM modular system. This provides manufacturers the easiest way of product integration, further facilitating the flexible use of maintenance-free sensors in the IoT.

EnOcean products use the energy harvesting principle, in which energy is obtained from the surroundings (motion, light and temperature differences), to power wireless switches and sensors. As a result, they are both self-powered and maintenance-free and can be placed flexibly as well as adjusted or expanded at anytime. Depending on the application, the products use the EnOcean (ISO/IEC 14543-3-1X), Zigbee or Bluetooth® international standards for wireless communication.

Raw data for the IoT

Networked with IoT platforms from companies such as Microsoft, T-Systems or IBM, self-powered sensors supply the needed raw data in real time to these systems, which are the basis for digitalized buildings and services. These include for example room utilization management, restroom management, asset management and analyzing the use of devices and furniture as well as monitoring of insurance-related risks or ambient assisted living.

“With new opportunities in digitalization and IoT, Corporate Real Estate Management, CREM, will reinvent their business and develop new products and services to create value with their business properties,” said Andreas Schneider, CEO of EnOcean. ”The enormous benefit and short payback periods involved in digitalizing buildings require reliable technologies that are easy to install and to network. That’s why self-powered wireless sensors and IoT solutions are highly attractive in this context.”

Advancing energy harvesting technology

In keeping with advancing digitalization of buildings, EnOcean is also continuously further developing its self-powered wireless technology. At MIPIM, the company will present the latest developments in its energy harvesting Dolphin modules, optimized for many applications within the IoT:

Kinetic-powered switch module with NFC

With the PTM 210 switch module, EnOcean has established an industry standard and the heart of every self-powered switch. The PTM fits into all common switch frames, thanks to standardized interfaces and a unified form factor. Inside, it combines the electromechanical ECO 200 energy converter with an efficient wireless module for optimum energy yield each time the pushbutton is pressed, while also maximizing the transmission power.

At the show, EnOcean will exhibit the prototype of just such a PTM switch module for the EnOcean wireless standard at 868 MHz, which meets the latest safety standards of the EnOcean Alliance and also integrates a NFC (near field communication) interface for easy and fast commissioning.

Solar-powered sensor modules for easy product integration

As another highlight at the trade show, EnOcean will present first samples of a new generation of solar-powered, maintenance-free sensor modules. The special feature of these sensor modules is that they have the same form factor as the PTM switch module, including the standardized mounting interfaces. As a result, EnOcean has transferred the PTM success factor to sensors, which can therefore be easily integrated into different switch frames, so that manufacturers only have to develop front plates adapted to the particular frame design.

In typical lighting situations in offices and smart homes, the sensors obtain all the energy they need from the integrated solar cell and remain active for up to four days even without a new supply of power, thanks to an energy store. The sensors can be used in many different ways for typical building automation tasks, for example temperature and moisture detection or status messages from doors and windows. They can also supply information on the current internal energy level as well as details about the light available to the solar cell. A module variant with an integrated acceleration sensor is under development for innovative IoT applications. It can incorporate almost unlimited digital assets into the Internet of Things by acting as an “activity tracker.”

The new family of kinetic and solar powered modules will support the EnOcean wireless standard and Bluetooth® and will have an NFC interface for easy commissioning.