The ZigBee standards lead to electronic systems that are inherently self organizing (self calibrating) and self healing and such devices use much less power and can be deployed in larger numbers than the original WiFi and Bluetooth options. However, we now have low power WiFi and Bluetooth and many proprietary protocols for wireless sensor networks that use much less power than ZigBee, power being a constant worry because WSN needs so much electricity and yet the devices usually need to be small. So what are the ZigBee enthusiasts doing to stay relevant ? Gilles Thonet of Schneider Electric gave some answers in a lecture on ZigBee for Energy Harvesting and Very Low Power at the recent IDTechEx Energy Harvesting and Storage conference in Munich Germany. He is Director, ZigBee Competence Center, Schneider Electric and Chair, ZigBee Green Power Group, ZigBee Alliance. http://www.energyharvestingjournal.com/articles/zigbee-for-energy-harvesting-and-very-low-power-00002316.asp
For more read : Energy Harvesting and Storage for Electronic Devices 2009-2019 and attend Energy Harvesting & Storage and Wireless Networks & RTLS USA 2010
