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Feasibility of Harvesting Solar Energy for Self-Powered Environmental Wireless Sensor Nodes

Li, Yuyang and Hamed, Ehab A. and Zhang, Xincheng and Luna, Daniel and Lin, Jeen-Shang and Liang, Xu and Lee, Inhee (2020) Feasibility of Harvesting Solar Energy for Self-Powered Environmental Wireless Sensor Nodes. Electronics, 9 (12). p. 2058. ISSN 2079-9292

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Abstract

Energy harvesting has a vital role in building reliable Environmental Wireless Sensor Networks (EWSNs), without needing to replace a discharged battery. Solar energy is one of the main renewable energy sources that can be used to efficiently charge a battery. This paper introduces two solar energy harvesters and their power measurements at different light conditions in order to charge rechargeable AA batteries powering EWSN nodes. The first harvester is a primitive energy harvesting circuit that is built using elementary off-shelf components, while the second harvester is based on a commercial boost converter chip. To prove the effectiveness of harvesting solar energy, five EWSN nodes were distributed at a nature reserve (the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, USA) and the sunlight at their locations was recorded for more than five months. For each recorded illumination, the corresponding harvested energy has been estimated and compared with the average energy consumption of the EWSN with the most power consumption. The results show that the daily harvested energy effectively compensates for the energy consumption of the EWSN nodes, and the battery charge capacity of 295 mAh can reliably support their daily dynamic energy consumption.


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Details

Item Type: Article
Status: Published
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Li, Yuyangyul230@pitt.eduyul230
Hamed, Ehab A.eah115@pitt.edueah115
Zhang, Xinchengxiz193@pitt.eduxiz193
Luna, Daniel
Lin, Jeen-Shangjslin@pitt.edujslin
Liang, Xuxuliang@pitt.eduxuliang
Lee, Inheeinhee.lee@pitt.edu
Date: 3 December 2020
Date Type: Publication
Journal or Publication Title: Electronics
Volume: 9
Number: 12
Publisher: MDPI AG
Page Range: p. 2058
DOI or Unique Handle: 10.3390/electronics9122058
Schools and Programs: Swanson School of Engineering > Electrical and Computer Engineering
Refereed: Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords: batteries, energy harvesting, environmental monitoring, illumination, solar energy, sunlight
ISSN: 2079-9292
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/electronics9122058
Article Type: Research Article
Date Deposited: 21 Jul 2021 20:04
Last Modified: 21 Jul 2021 20:04
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/41455

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