Energy Harvesting with Silicon Labs' Dev Kit

At Embedded World 2025, Silicon Labs introduced an energy harvesting development kit designed to remove batteries from the equation entirely. Aimed at ultra-low power applications like smart home switches, sensors, and industrial monitors, this solution enables communication through harvested energy—from sources like solar, vibration, thermal gradients, or even RF.

For homes wired without a neutral line, this is a practical leap forward. Using small pulses of collected energy, a switch can send wireless signals without any external power supply or frequent battery replacements. The core of this system is built around the EFR32xG22E Explorer Kit, offering developers a flexible platform to evaluate and deploy battery-free IoT devices.

Harvest, Store, and Communicate – Kit Breakdown

The evaluation kit is made up of three key boards that showcase different harvesting strategies. One focuses on energy bursts—ideal for switches or momentary contact triggers. Another supports trickle-charging with storage through capacitors, useful for gradually gathering power via a solar panel and running lightweight applications even overnight.

The third option, powered by a coin cell, isn’t for harvesting but for profiling power consumption—a crucial step in defining energy budgets before transitioning to self-powered designs.

All boards interface with the EFR32xG22E base, which integrates low-power Bluetooth LE and Zigbee radios. Communication follows standards like Zigbee Green Power and BLE beaconing—allowing single-push operation after secure pairing. Developers can prototype rapidly using onboard peripherals, USB interfaces, and 20-pin expansion headers.

Real-World Applications and Developer Accessibility

This kit supports a variety of real-world scenarios, including light switches without neutral wires, step-activated lighting via pressure sensors, and environmental monitors deployed in inaccessible locations. By eliminating batteries, it also supports sustainability goals while reducing maintenance in field-deployed hardware.

Silicon Labs supports this kit with ready-to-use examples and drivers directly within Simplicity Studio. Developers can test functionality out of the box, evaluate energy sources, and refine power profiles before committing to hardware. Whether you’re working with solar, kinetic, or thermal energy, this kit lowers the barrier to creating battery-free connected devices.

Further reading:

e-peas, Silicon Labs Simplify the Implementation of Battery-less Ambient IoT Smart Home Systems in Exclusive First Reveal Webinar

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