This paper proposes a self-start piezoelectric energy harvesting circuit with an undervoltage-lockout (UVLO) converter for a wireless sensor network (WSN). First, a self-start circuit with mini piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) is designed to supply the power for operation of the oscillator without battery. The experimental results show that a batteryless self-start circuit successfully operates the oscillator with mini-PEH, and self-starting time is 0.45 s. Second, this paper proposes an adjustable UVLO converter that can supply the power even if a power consumption of a wireless sensor node is higher than generated power from PEH. The experimental result shows the adjustable UVLO converter supplies 45 mW for 0.12 s after charging the output power of an impedance matching circuit (1.7 mW) for 10 s. This paper shows that the proposed circuit successfully overcomes challenging issues — self-start and lower power generation — for powering WSN.

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