Power consumption is one of the most significant challenges for IOT. Today IOT device needs to be able to sustain longer battery lifespan, especially in cases such as outdoor deployments, to shorten hardware maintenance and prevent the breakdown of communication. In many deployment cases, to prolong the usability of the equipment in the field, large battery sources have to be attached to the sensors, making the sensor setup bulky and cumbersome. IOT supports the pervasive connectivity of sensors and the need for them to interact with each other, i.e., act as both tags and interrogators. To support such connectivity and communications, the design and use of low-power chipsets will create a significant impact and consideration on power consumption for future sensors. Ultra-low power designs for chipset circuits have been an ongoing research area, with techniques moving from a single gate to multi-gate transistors and carbon nanotube designs.

Energy harvesting technologies that convert energy out of physical energy sources such as temperature differences and applied pressure have been researched to explore their capability to replace conventional batteries. Two examples of power scavenging technologies are photovoltaic technology which generates electric power by using solar energy and piezoelectric technology that creates charges on stress or shape change on the voltage applied. Newer forms of battery technologies, e.g., polymer battery, fuel cell and paper batteries will support increasing functionality and longer battery lifetime. Paper and smart label batteries have shown promising use cases in warehousing usage as they allow containers to perform two-way communications with the reader.