FAQ

Energy harvesting captures energy from the environment, such as motion, light, or heat, and converts it into usable electrical power. Gemns specializes in kinetic energy harvesting using electromagnetic induction: motion creates a magnetic field change, which induces a voltage that powers a wireless signal.

Each year, Americans throw away over 3 billion batteries, generating more than 180,000 tons of hazardous waste. Gemns devices eliminate the need for disposable batteries in IoT devices, offering a scalable path toward a battery-free, sustainable connected world.

The world is deploying billions of IoT sensors that need to transmit data reliably and sustainably. Batteries are costly, maintenance-heavy, and environmentally damaging. Energy harvesting provides an autonomous, permanent power alternative.

Gemns’ electromagnetic induction generator design uses permanent magnets and optimized coil geometry to produce significantly higher energy output than any other known kinetic energy harvesting generator. This allows longer range, better signal quality, and more complex device functions, all without a battery.

• No batteries to replace or dispose of
• No wiring or power connections
• Reliable RF transmission from motion alone
• Reduced maintenance costs
• Freedom in product design and placement

Energy harvesting is still a developing market, but innovations in electromagnetism, microelectronics, power conversion circuitry, and nano- and pico-power technology are accelerating energy harvesting generator (EHG) methods that are at least 40 times more productive than ever before. This increased power level finally presents a viable alternative to battery power to advance the RF technology needs of the IoT industry.

Instead of sun, wind, or water, our energy harvesting process involves electromagnetic induction wherein a kinetic force, like the push of a button or the roll of a wave, moves a small magnet through a metal coil. In adherence to Faraday’s Law, this action creates an electromagnetic charge, which is enough to power a data transmission. The more efficient the energy capture and conversion, the larger the charge. The larger the charge, the greater the range, reliability, and functionality of the data transmission.

On-board electromagnetic energy harvesting allows simple wireless data transmission devices to operate reliably without the need for battery replacement. An example of where this technology has significant practical and financial value is for wireless sensors deployed in vast matrixes and hard-to-access locations. For connected sensors to do their job, they need to be able to reliably transmit real-time data. On-board electromagnetic energy harvesting allows this imperative to be automated and trusted permanently.

The next decade will see a sprawling IoT infrastructure in constant need of information in order to support itself. Much of this information is gathered and transmitted by automated wireless connected sensors. A key challenge facing the IoT has been finding an appropriate means of powering these countless connected sensors and associated devices.

Batteries have historically been the default power option, but they have a limited lifespan, require effort- and resource-intensive replacement at scale, and end up in landfills by the millions each day. Batteries also introduce form factor and weight constraints to the devices they power.

Our patented technology and products tackle these challenges and introduce scalable energy harvesting to IoT sensors and devices, thereby eliminating the need for the cost, weight, support, and disposal of the billions of cell batteries that are produced and discarded each year.

Each year, Americans throw away more than 3 billion batteries, totaling 180,000 tons of hazardous waste, according to environmentalist groups, and this number continues to grow with the proliferation of wireless IoT sensors. On-board electromagnetic energy harvesting eliminates wireless sensor battery waste.