Perpetuum, a Southampton-based vibration energy harvesting devices manufacturer, has completed a $10m funding round to support the commercialisation of its vibration energy-harvesting generator.
London-based Environmental Technologies Fund (ETF), Quester and Top Technology contributed to the investment for the project.
‘Perpetuum has developed a novel alternative energy source that harvests energy otherwise wasted and renders batteries unnecessary. By enabling wireless sensing it will significantly improve industrial efficiency,’ said Henrik Olsen, a found partner of ETF.
The new vibration-harvesting device is capable of generating enough energy to enable wireless sensors to transmit several kilobytes of data every few minutes, or smaller amounts of data several times a second. It does this by harvesting the energy from low-level vibrations and turning it into electric current (several megawatts of power) to power wireless sensor networks for use in areas such as industrial monitoring and control, rail transport and shipping.
According to Perpetuum, using the new device would reduce installation and maintenance costs, and negate the need for batteries or mains power.
Mike McTighe, chairman of Perpetuum, said: ‘Our generator is already being built into sensor node designs by some of the world's leading industrial condition monitoring companies. There is no comparable device on the market today and we have a great opportunity to position Perpetuum as the global leader in this fast-growing market.’
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