The Rising Demand For Efficient Energy Usage Over Concerns Of Environmental Impact Of Energy Generation From Conventional Sources Such As Coal And Natural Gas, Is Expected To Help Grow The Energy Harvesting Market

Advancements in Mechanical Technology combined with favorable government regulations to boost Energy Harvesting market during the forecast period 2021-2026. The global Energy Harvesting Systems Market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 12.3% during the forecast period 2021-2026 and cross the $1 Billion mark by 2026, from around $615 million in 2020.

Although the market witnessed a slight downturn of around -4% in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19, the market shall bounce back in 2021 on the back of strong consumer demand in electronics and industry verticals such as Oil and Gas, Manufacturing etc. EU had imposed a regulation which set minimum safety and quality requirements for energy harvesting solutions in wireless networks. In 2019, SAE had initiated standardization work through a task force called J2954 on wireless charging for vehicles. Wireless charging is seen as a key enabling technology in adoption of electric vehicles. As electric vehicles mostly rely on energy harvesting solutions, there will be positive impact on energy harvesting market. The introduction of the new regulations for the development of the suitable lead-free replacement for lead-based piezoelectric materials with respect to high-density energy harvesting by adopting the new novel processing technique which helps in improving the piezoelectric response and temperature stability.

The use of the thermoelectric system which has the ability to maintain large temperature differences across device terminals remains increasingly difficult to achieve with accelerated trends in device miniaturization. To overcome this issue many companies are now focusing on the development of the thin-film active materials which are integrated into flexible three-dimensional (3-D) forms. These thermoelectric thin films with energy harvesting features will reduce the size of the semiconductor device by 70- 80%.The energy harvesting market is undergoing a transformation phase and technology is rapidly changing over the years. However, the impact of the technological modifications are not replicated to the price of the energy harvesters.  The small and medium sized players in the energy harvesting market with innovative products are unable to sustain when compared to major stable players. Highly financially stable organizations have sufficient money to invest in R&D and therefore, manufacture high end devices with peculiar features. Additionally, a growing trend towards merger and acquisition of the companies with innovative features and products is one rise.

The market of HVAC equipment remains a highly dynamic market driven primarily by the growing consumer electronics, automotive and construction sectors. Growing urbanization makes it inevitable for OEMs to increase production of HVAC in people rich countries, which will be continuing fast pace growth in consumer electronics and wireless sensor HVAC market. The energy harvesting system harvests the airflow inside heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems using a piezoelectric component and can be implemented for optimizing the energy consumption inside buildings. HVAC industry can employ these systems for sensing of humidity, occupancy, Co2, temperature, and airflow in HVAC systems.

Many semiconductor manufacturing companies are planning to manufacture the miniaturized semiconductor devices by using energy harvesting features. These miniaturized semiconductors are expected to pave the way to wearable technologies and sensors. The use of the thermoelectric system which has the ability to maintain large temperature differences across device terminals remains increasingly difficult to achieve with accelerated trends in device miniaturization. To overcome this issue many companies are now focusing on the development of the thin-film active materials which are integrated into flexible three-dimensional (3-D) forms. These thermoelectric thin films with energy harvesting features is planning to integrate with soft material system including human tissue to develop wearable sensors is expected to create opportunities in near future. According to SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment Materials International), the investment by various chipmakers boost the R&D activities in new semiconductor equipment between 2019 and 2022. It is expected that Korea, China and Taiwan would invest the most in fab equipment which also includes energy harvesting and miniature products. This creates an opportunity for the rise of semiconductor and as well as energy harvesting market in the coming years.

Major players in Energy Harvesting include include ABB, Honeywell International Inc., Microchip Technology Inc., Fujitsu Ltd, Silicon Laboratories Inc., Analog Devices Inc. and Others. In January 2019, ABB had collaborated with Tigo in order to provide worldwide optimizer solution and leading inverter which will also be used in energy harvesting solutions. This collaboration will help ABB to provide world class products which offers flexibility and scalable solution to meet the needs of the customers.