Portable Simulation Models for Energy Aspects of IoT Devices in the LoLiPoP-IoT Project

The increasing interest in IoT devices poses significant challenges in battery
waste, not to mention the effort needed to replace the batteries in remote
applications. In the LoLiPoP-IoT project, we address these issues by developing
energy-efficient IoT platforms that extend the device's battery life through
low-power design and energy harvesting. However, for a successful design,
preliminary measurements and simulations need to be done to demonstrate the
feasibility of the utilized technologies and their dimensioning. This paper
presents a method of collecting data and creating a novel portable simulation
model implemented in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. During the data collection
phase, we plot detailed energy consumption and income of our device (i.e., asset
tracking tag). PC1D simulations of a crystalline-silicon photo-voltaic panel and
the device model were utilized to collect data for the final (i.e., composed)
model. Our model allows real-time adjustments of key parameters, such as ambient
light intensity, battery capacity, and photo-voltaic panel sizing. Our goal is to
deliver a solution that allows our partner to conduct basic experiments on their
own computers with a user-friendly interface for parameter selection and result
visualization. Our results indicate that for one application area, a 25cm2
photo-voltaic panel is needed, while for the other, a 23cm2 panel is enough.