Energy Harvesting Electronics: From CES 2025 to a Battery-Free Future

The electronics industry is on the cusp of a quiet revolution. For decades, our devices – from smart sensors and wearables to remote monitors – have relied on disposable batteries that are costly to replace and difficult to recycle. But what if those devices could power themselves?

Thanks to breakthroughs in energy harvesting, self-powering devices are becoming a reality. From kinetic generators to photovoltaic hybrids, new energy harvesting components are capturing ambient energy and transforming it into electricity with growing efficiency. The result? Electronic systems that can operate autonomously for years, either entirely battery-free or by drastically extending battery life.

The Self-Sustaining Power Revolution

At the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, dozens of companies showcased practical applications of energy harvesting, signaling the shift toward sustainable, maintenance-free electronics. Here’s a look at some of the standout innovations from CES that are making battery-free systems not just possible, but practical.

Electromagnetic Induction and Kinetic Energy Harvesting

How can motion generate meaningful power? WePower Technologies answered this at CES 2025 with the Gemns^™ Energy Harvesting Generator product line. The company's electromagnetic induction technology uses permanent, oscillating magnets to generate electricity from motion, delivering 30 times greater energy output (in the millijoule range) than existing kinetic energy harvesting technologies (typically in the microjoule range).

This superior efficiency stems from WePower's unique oscillating magnet configuration that maximizes flux density while minimizing mechanical resistance. Unlike conventional kinetic harvesters that rely on linear motion, their design incorporates specialized magnetic pole arrangements that generate higher induced voltages even from subtle movements, effectively converting a greater percentage of mechanical energy into electrical output. At the show, WePower demonstrated practical implementations of this technology in water leak detectors and industrial controllers.

With a similar approach, MIT researchers developed a battery-free sensor that harvests energy from magnetic fields around electrical wires, enabling real-time temperature monitoring without external power sources.

SMK Electronics' Self-Contained Power Supply (SCPS) Coin Battery Module earned a CES 2025 Innovation Award for creating the industry's first energy harvesting module to replace standard CR2032 coin cell batteries. This breakthrough could help phase out billions of coin-cell batteries used in sensors, tags and trackers.

AI-Driven Optimization and Energy Management

Integrated AI and machine learning are improving energy harvesting systems by optimizing power management. AI-powered algorithms adjust harvesting strategies in real time, maximizing efficiency from sources like solar, thermal or vibrational energy. AI is increasingly the brain behind energy autonomy, helping devices make smarter, on-the-fly power decisions. 

At CES 2025, e-peas showcased their AEM13920 dual-source energy harvesting integrated circuits that optimize power from light and motion-based sources. Their demonstrations of movement detection, door sensing and carbon dioxide monitoring validated that practical, battery-free applications are now viable. CEO Geoffroy Gosset emphasized that "energy autonomy for smart homes and buildings is becoming increasingly critical" as developers seek to eliminate environmental impact and battery replacement costs.

Electrostatic Generators and Energy Management Units

Researchers have developed high-performance Energy Management Units (EMUs) that address impedance mismatches in electrostatic generators, boosting efficiency up to 50%. These new EMU designs include spark-switch tubes and buck converters, achieving direct current outputs as high as 79.2 mW m⁻² rps⁻¹ in rotary electret generators. That level of output makes these units a strong candidate for powering sensors in rugged environments where reliability is essential and wiring isn’t feasible. 

Photovoltaic and Hybrid Systems

Thanks to advances in solar tech like transparent and flexible cells, light energy harvesting remains dominant and is increasingly integrated into hybrid systems. EnOcean’s battery-free sensors, for example, tap sunlight or motion to power wireless switches and environmental monitoring systems. 

Such hybrid systems that combine multiple energy sources are gaining traction, exemplified by Northeastern University’s leaf-inspired device that captures energy from raindrops and wind. By blending sources like sun, wind and motion, hybrid harvesters reduce the risk of power gaps, which is essential for health monitors, infrastructure sensors and other remote devices.

Market Trends and Growth Drivers

Industry estimates project the global energy harvesting system market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9 to 11%, expected to surpass $2.5 billion as early as 2030. Key factors driving this growth include:

• IoT Proliferation: Wireless sensor networks in smart cities, healthcare and industrial automation all require sustainable power sources to reduce battery waste.
• Government Incentives: Policy frameworks promoting green energy adoption, particularly in North America, are pushing market expansion.
• Technological Miniaturization: Progress in low-power electronics and energy storage systems drives the creation of increasingly compact, efficient devices.

Applications and Implementation

Smart Infrastructure and IoT

Smart infrastructure is already tapping ambient energy to power lighting, HVAC and traffic systems. Kinetic and solar components control lighting and HVAC without batteries, while LoRaWAN^®-enabled devices with advanced ICs maintain long-range communication networks with minimal infrastructure. These applications show how environmental energy can drive autonomous monitoring and control across urban landscapes.

Medical and Wearable Technology

Energy harvesting provides continuous operation without recharging for medical devices that monitor vital signs. For example, wearable glucose monitors and heart rate trackers now use body heat to power themselves, freeing patients from frequent recharges or battery changes.

Industrial Automation

Manufacturing environments, where vibration or thermal sensors can detect equipment anomalies without wired connections, present unique opportunities for energy harvesting. EMU-enhanced electrostatic generators are particularly effective in harsh industrial environments, powering distributed sensor networks for predictive maintenance.

Adoption Challenges and Future Directions

Despite substantial progress in the past few years, energy harvesting technologies face several challenges with implementation today:

• Initial Integration Complexity: Specialized components and customization requirements increase implementation costs.
• Energy Intermittency: Ambient energy sources like solar or vibration naturally fluctuate, requiring advanced storage systems and intelligent power management.
• Material Limitations: While materials like flexible solar cells and piezoelectric polymers continue advancing, mass production of hybrid systems remains nascent.

Over the 2025 to 2030 timeframe, several pivotal developments will shape the technology's evolution across these key areas:

• AI-Driven Energy Orchestration: Deep AI integration will allow dynamic power optimization, predictive analytics and self-healing systems that maximize efficiency.
• Advanced Nanomaterials: Breakthroughs in triboelectric nanogenerators and self-restoring coatings will significantly enhance conversion efficiency.
• Hybrid Multi-Source Systems: Devices combining solar, thermal and vibrational harvesting will become standard, mitigating the limitations of single-source approaches.
• Expansion Beyond IoT: Energy harvesting will increasingly power larger systems, including signage, consumer electronics and elements of transportation infrastructure.

Planning Today for Harvesting Tomorrow

The transition from disposable batteries to self-sustaining energy systems represents one of this decade's most meaningful electronic design shifts. As demonstrated at CES 2025, practical implementations now deliver sufficient power for real-world applications. In the next five years, continued advances in AI, hybrid harvesting and component design will push the market toward truly autonomous, environmentally responsible systems.

Electronic engineers should plan for this future by preparing to reconsider fundamental power architecture assumptions and developing expertise in ultra-low-power circuits, energy storage integration and multi-source harvesting techniques. Engineers who master the interplay between ambient energy availability and dynamic power requirements will be in great demand as energy autonomy becomes a baseline expectation rather than a specialized feature in electronic systems.