Power Consumption Analysis of ESP32 and Arduino Nano for Low-Power Applications

This study experimentally examined the energy usage of the ESP32 and Arduino Nano microcontroller boards in active and deep sleep (power-down) modes. Both boards were powered by a continuous 5 V voltage, and current measurements were obtained directly using a multimeter. The experimental results indicated that the ESP32 board consumed 45.5 mA in active mode and 5.27 mA in sleep mode, whereas the Arduino Nano consumed 18 mA in active mode and 5.39 mA in sleep mode. The power consumption of the ESP32 was determined to be 0.2275 W in active mode and 0.02635 W in sleep mode, whereas the Arduino Nano exhibited power consumption of 0.09 W in active mode and 0.02695 W in sleep mode. The statistics acquired demonstrate that both platforms are appropriate for low-power applications; however, the ESP32 shows more energy consumption in active mode, necessitating meticulous energy management planning during the design phase.