Global distribution agreement to supply energy harvesting DC-DC boost converters and associated kits

Mouser has signed a global distribution agreement with MATRIX Industries. Through the agreement, the company is now stocking MATRIX Mercury energy harvesting DC-DC boost converters and associated kits, ideal for IoT or wearable engineers — from hobbyists to design engineers in large companies.

Their converters are excellent for harvesting and managing surplus energy from very low-input-voltage sources such as thermoelectric generators and thermopiles. The converters’ individual impedance-matching feature allows up to 80% peak conversion efficiency energy harvesting over the complete input voltage range, while the ultra-low quiescent current of 700nA aids fast charge times. Mercury supports input voltage as low as 10mV, while the output can be regulated up to 5V.

The MATRIX Mercury evaluation kit offers an uncomplicated platform for engineers to measure the performance of the converter and enables the addition of an energy storage media to provide for various applications. The outputs of the on-chip ADC are broken out on the board to enable real-time measurements.

The prototype kit is a rapid prototyping platform constructed around the energy harvesting boost converter. It is excellent for evolving IoT sensor applications that harness energy from very low-temperature differences and removes the requirement to replace or recharge batteries. The board comprises an ultra-low-power 16-bit microcontroller with Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity pre-programmed with a beacon application. The outputs of the company's ADC are connected to the microcontroller to enable real-time measurements as well as transmission of the ADC output over Bluetooth Low Energy. An Android app is offered as a basic framework for building customised apps.