TY - JOUR N2 - The paper presents a circuit structure that can be used for powering an IoT (Internet of Things) sensor node and that can use energy just from its surroundings. The main advantage of the presented solution is its very low cost that allows mass applicability e.g. in the IoT smart grids and ubiquitous sensors. It is intended for energy sources that can provide enough voltage but that can provide only low currents such as piezoelectric transducers or small photovoltaic panels (PV) under indoor light conditions. The circuit is able to accumulate energy in a capacitor until a certain level and then to pass it to the load. The presented circuit exhibits similar functionality to a commercially available EH300 energy harvester (EH). The paper compares electrical properties of the presented circuit and the EH300 device, their form factors and costs. The EH circuit’s performance is tested together with an LTC3531 buck-boost DC/DC converter which can provide constant voltage for the following electronics. The paper provides guidelines for selecting an optimal capacity of the storage capacitor. The functionality of the solution presented is demonstrated in a sensor node that periodically transmits measured data to the base station using just the power from the PV panel or the piezoelectric generator. The presented harvester and powering circuit are compact part of the sensor node’s electronics but they can be also realized as an external powering module to be added to existing solutions. L1 - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/117855/PDF/art02.pdf L2 - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/117855 PY - 2020 IS - No 4 EP - 587 DO - 10.24425/mms.2020.134839 KW - energy harvesting KW - energy management KW - Internet of Things KW - wireless sensor networks A1 - Bouřa, Adam PB - Polish Academy of Sciences Committee on Metrology and Scientific Instrumentation VL - vol. 27 DA - 2021.01.07 T1 - A simple and affordable powering circuit for iot sensor nodes with energy harvesting SP - 575 UR - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/117855 T2 - Metrology and Measurement Systems ER -