The company develops and commercializes a revolutionary technology that combines energy scavenging systems with ultra low power consumption radio technology – ideal for security alarm sensor applications.
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />
“There is a quiet revolution going on. Imagine a world where doctors can implant sensors in their patients to constantly monitor chronic conditions. A world where tires are constantly monitored from the inside to make sure their pressure is always in a safe range for the load being carried.
“A world where office partition walls are moved around and the controls for lighting and air-conditioning are just stuck to the walls wherever it is convenient, without a second thought for how to wire them. These are just tiny samples of the kind of applications that become possible when you can create a wireless sensor that has no batteries,” explained Markus Brehler, CEO of Munich-based EnOcean GmbH.
EnOcean’s sensors are unique in combining two advanced technologies. First, they scavenge minute amounts of energy from the environment around them, perhaps from a small temperature change, or the vibration of a movement, or the pressure of someone turning a switch. Then, that energy is used to transmit very short duration, very low energy consumption radio signals containing data collected by the sensor.
The result is sensors that do not need batteries and therefore do not need maintenance. Removing the need for maintenance not only drastically reduces the life-cycle costs of a sensor, it also opens up the possibility of numerous new applications.
Achim Lederle, Investment Director at 3i, commented: “It was the technology’s broad spectrum of application, first and foremost, that convinced 3i to participate in the funding. The far-reaching miniaturization of EnOcean’s systems opens up a wealth of new and highly promising growth markets for battery-less radio technology.”
The building automation industry has been the first to launch and install EnOcean products. Building systems technology manufacturers such as OSRAM, WAGO, Wieland and Beckhoff have all designed EnOcean technology into their portfolio and numerous buildings are being monitored and controlled by this technology today.
