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The nuclear battery technology depends on the spontaneous decay of the atomic nuclei of radioactive isotopes to generate electricity. One of the merits of a nuclear battery is its high-energy density, which can be around ten times higher than that of hydrogen fuel cells and a thousand times more than that of an electrochemical battery. A nuclear battery has an extremely long life and low maintenance and running costs coupled with applications in remote and hostile environmental environments. The rise of silicon technology has intensified research activities in the area of nuclear batteries. The paper aims to present a general overview of a nuclear battery.

This paper presents a general overview of a nuclear battery and will significantly reduce reliance on non-renewable energy source. The requirement for long-lived power supplies have necessitated the pragmatic shift toward the realization of cleaner, safer and renewable energy sources.

Nuclear battery is a safe enabling technology for many applications including military and commercial applications. They have very long operating life under harsh environmental conditions. These cells demonstrate high potential for use in low power applications under a broad range of temperatures.

The nuclear battery technology has been receiving considerable in-depth research for applications that require long-life power sources.

This paper aims to provide a technical review of new and emerging power sources and their application to sensors.

This paper comprises two parts. Following an introduction, this first part considers research and recent developments in battery, betavoltaic and supercapacitor technologies.

It is shown that these technologies are the topic of a major research effort. This aims to improve many operational features, including faster recharge times, increased power and energy densities and enhanced cycling performance. Supercapacitors offer prospects to replace rechargeable batteries in certain applications.

This paper provides a technical insight into the latest power source developments with relevance to sensors.

The paper aims to provide a technical review of new and emerging power sources and their application to sensors.

This is the second part of a two‐part paper. Following a brief introduction, recent developments and research into fuel cell, energy harvesting, microgenerator and wireless power transmission technologies are considered.

All of these technologies are the topic of a major research effort and offer prospects to power future generations of sensors. Several pose strong competition to rechargeable batteties.

The paper provides a detailed insight into new and improved sensor power sources.