
The EnOcean technology is an
energy harvesting
Energy harvesting (EH) – also known as power harvesting, energy scavenging, or ambient power – is the process by which energy is derived from external sources (e.g., solar power, thermal energy, wind energy, Osmotic power, salinity gradients, ...
wireless technology used primarily in building automation systems, but also in other application fields such as industry, transportation, and logistics. The energy harvesting wireless modules are manufactured and marketed by the company EnOcean, headquartered in Oberhaching near
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. The modules combine micro energy converters with ultra low power electronics and wireless communications and enable batteryless,
wireless sensors, switches, and controls.
In March 2012, the EnOcean wireless standard was ratified as the international standard
ISO
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries.
Me ...
/
IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC; ) is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. IEC standards cover a vast range of ...
14543-3-10, which is optimized for wireless solutions with ultra-low power consumption and energy harvesting. The standard covers the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) layers 1-3 which are the physical, data link and networking layers. EnOcean is offering its technology and licenses for the patented features within the EnOcean Alliance framework.
Technology
EnOcean technology is based on the energetically efficient exploitation of applied slight mechanical motion and other potentials from the environment, such as indoor light and temperature differences, using the principles of
energy harvesting
Energy harvesting (EH) – also known as power harvesting, energy scavenging, or ambient power – is the process by which energy is derived from external sources (e.g., solar power, thermal energy, wind energy, Osmotic power, salinity gradients, ...
. In order to transform such energy fluctuations into usable electrical energy, electromagnetic,
solar
Solar may refer to:
Astronomy
* Of or relating to the Sun
** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun
** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels")
** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...
cells, and
thermoelectric
The thermoelectric effect is the direct conversion of temperature differences to electric voltage and vice versa via a thermocouple. A thermoelectric device creates a voltage when there is a different temperature on each side. Conversely, when ...
energy converters are used.
EnOcean-based products (such as sensors and light switches) perform without batteries and are engineered to operate maintenance-free. The radio signals from these sensors and switches can be transmitted wirelessly over a distance of up to 300 meters in the open and up to 30 meters inside buildings. Early designs from the company used
piezo generators, but were later replaced with electromagnetic energy sources to reduce the operating force (3.5
newtons
The newton (symbol: N) is the unit of force in the International System of Units (SI). Expressed in terms of SI base units, it is 1 kg⋅m/s2, the force that accelerates a mass of one kilogram at one metre per second squared.
The unit i ...
), and increase the service life to 100 operations a day for more than 25 years.
EnOcean wireless data packets are relatively small, with the packet being only 14 bytes long and are transmitted at 125 kbit/s. RF energy is only transmitted for the 1's of the binary data, reducing the amount of power required. Three packets are sent at
pseudo-random
A pseudorandom sequence of numbers is one that appears to be statistically random, despite having been produced by a completely deterministic and repeatable process. Pseudorandom number generators are often used in computer programming, as tradi ...
intervals reducing the possibility of
RF packet collisions. Modules optimized for switching applications transmit additional data packets on release of
push-button switches, enabling other features such as light dimming to be implemented. The transmission frequencies used for the devices are 902 MHz, 928.35 MHz, 868.3 MHz and 315 MHz.
On May 30, 2017 EnOcean unveiled a series of light switches utilizing
Bluetooth Low Energy
Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE, colloquially BLE, formerly marketed as Bluetooth Smart) is a wireless personal area network technology designed and marketed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) aimed at novel applications ...
radio (2.4 GHz).
Application examples
One example of the technology is a battery-free wireless light switch. Advantages are that
it saves time and material by eliminating the need to install wires between the switch and
controlled device, e.g., a light fixture. It also reduces noise on switched circuits, as the
switching is performed locally at the load.
Other lighting applications include
occupancy sensors,
light sensor
Photodetectors, also called photosensors, are devices that detect light or other forms of electromagnetic radiation and convert it into an electrical signal. They are essential in a wide range of applications, from digital imaging and optical c ...
s and key card switches. Furthermore, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (
hvac
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC ) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...
) applications such as temperature sensors, humidity sensors,
CO2 sensors, metering sensors already use EnOcean’s energy harvesting
wireless technology.
Company
EnOcean
GmbH
(; ) is a type of Juridical person, legal entity in German-speaking countries. It is equivalent to a (Sàrl) in the Romandy, French-speaking region of Switzerland and to a (Sagl) in the Ticino, Italian-speaking region of Switzerland.
It is a ...
is a venture-funded spin-off company of
Siemens AG
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the posit ...
founded in 2001. It is a German company headquartered in
Oberhaching
Oberhaching is a Municipalities in Germany, municipality in Bavaria, Germany, with 13,638 inhabitants (2020) on an area of . It is located south of Munich city centre and has a 1,250 year history.
Architecture
The most important buildings are ...
, near
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, which currently employs 60 people in Germany and the USA. It is a technology supplier of energy harvesting wireless modules (transmitters, receivers, transceivers, energy converter) to companies (e.g.
Siemens Building Technologies, Distech Controls,
Zumtobel, Omnio,
Osram
OSRAM Licht AG is a German company that makes electric lights, headquartered in Munich and Premstätten (Austria). OSRAM positions itself as a high-tech photonics company that is increasingly focusing on sensor technology, visualization and trea ...
, Eltako, Wieland Electric, Pressac, Peha, Thermokon, Wago, Herga), which develop and manufacture products used in
building automation
Building automation (BAS), also known as building management system (BMS) or building energy management system (BEMS), is the automatic centralized control of a building's HVAC, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), electrical, light ...
(
light
Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...
,
shading
Shading refers to the depiction of depth perception in 3D models (within the field of 3D computer graphics) or illustrations (in visual art) by varying the level of darkness. Shading tries to approximate local behavior of light on the object's ...
,
hvac
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC ) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...
),
industrial automation
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...
, and other application fields
automotive industry
The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, Maintenance, repairing, and Custom car, modification of motor ve ...
(replacement of the conventional battery in tyre pressure sensors).
The company won the Bavarian Innovation Prize 2002 for its technology, the award "Technology Pioneer 2006" by the
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...
, the "Top-10 Product for 2007" award by Building Green and was among the global cleantech 100 in 2011.
In November 2007,
MK Electric
MK Electric is a company that makes electrical accessories. The company's headquarters are in Basildon, Essex, England, from where it sells goods worldwide.
History
In 1912 Charles Arnold and Charles Belling formed Belling and Company making ...
, the manufacturer of consumer electrical fitments in the UK, adopted EnOcean technology for a wireless switches. However, pricing was far beyond the cost of providing traditional switches, so very little traction in 'new build' applications was made. The range is now entirely discontinued.
In April 2012, EnOcean wireless technology was ratified as the international wireless standard
ISO/IEC 14543-3-10 Information technology - Home Electronic Systems (HES) - Part 3-10:
Wireless Short-Packet (WSP) protocol optimized for energy harvesting - Architecture and
lower layer protocols.
EnOcean Alliance
A group of companies including EnOcean,
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...
,
Omnio,
Sylvania,
Masco, and
MK Electric
MK Electric is a company that makes electrical accessories. The company's headquarters are in Basildon, Essex, England, from where it sells goods worldwide.
History
In 1912 Charles Arnold and Charles Belling formed Belling and Company making ...
formed the EnOcean Alliance in April 2008 as a non-profit, mutual benefit organization. The EnOcean Alliance aims to internationalise this technology, and is dedicated to creating interoperability between the products of OEM partners, in order to bring about the existence of a broad range of interoperable wireless monitoring and controlling products for use in and around residential,
commercial and industrial buildings. For this the EnOcean Alliance has drawn up the
application level protocols are referred to as EEPs (EnOcean Equipment Profiles). Together
with the three lower levels of the international wireless standard ISO/IEC 14543-3-10 the
Alliance lay the foundation for a fully interoperable, open wireless technology. More than 250
companies currently belong to the EnOcean Alliance. The headquarters of the organization is
in San Ramon, California.
Market research company WTRS estimated that EnOcean module shipments might reach $1.4B in 2013.
Software automation
EnOcean is supported by Fhem and ago control.
Fhem and ago control are GPL licensed software suites for house automation. They are used to automate some common tasks in the household like switching lamps, shutters, heating, etc., and to log events like temperature, humidity, and power consumption. Both run as servers that are controlled via web front-end, telnet, command line, or TCP/IP directly.
See also
*
IEEE 802.15.4
IEEE 802.15.4 is a technical standard that defines the operation of a low-rate wireless personal area network (LR-WPAN). It specifies the physical layer and media access control for LR-WPANs, and is maintained by the IEEE 802.15 working group, ...
*
Insteon
*
MyriaNed
*
Zigbee
Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based specification for a suite of high-level communication protocols used to create personal area networks with small, low-power digital radios, such as for home automation, medical device data collection, and oth ...
*
Z-Wave
Z-Wave is a wireless communications protocol used primarily for residential and commercial building automation. It is a mesh network using low-energy radio waves to communicate from device to device, allowing for wireless control of smart home d ...
References
External links
Arveni s.a.s website: other examples of vibration and pulse piezo energy harvestingEnOcean websiteEnOcean Alliance websiteEasyfit by EnOcean website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enocean
Companies based in Bavaria
Electronics companies of Germany
Building automation
Personal area networks
Energy harvesting