Maxim Integrated has announced the MAX20361, a single-/multi-cell solar harvester with maximum power point tracking (MPPT). The company claims it as the industry’s smallest solar harvesting solution. It’s targeted at space-constrained applications such as wearables and emerging IoT applications.
According to Maxim, designers are often challenged with the tradeoff between small size and long runtime for wearable and IoT applications. By enabling solar charging in these highly space-constrained products, the MAX20361 can extend the runtime of those devices by providing a supplemental power source.
This solar harvester reduces solution size by at least half compared to the closest competitor. In addition, Maxim says the MAX20361 increases harvested energy with up to 5% better boost efficiency than the closest competitor, coupled with an adaptive MPPT approach which can improve the overall system level efficiency even further.
The MAX20361 is available at Maxim Integrated’s website for $2.64 (1000-up, FOB USA); also available from authorized distributors. The MAX20361EVKIT# evaluation kit is available for $57.
Maxim Integrated | www.maximintegrated.com
