An Adaptive TE-PV Hybrid Energy Harvesting System for Self-Powered IoT Sensor Applications

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2021-04, Vol.21 (8), p.2604
• Main Authors: Mishu, Mahmuda Khatun, Rokonuzzaman, Md, Pasupuleti, Jagadeesh, Shakeri, Mohammad, Rahman, Kazi Sajedur, Binzaid, Shuza, Tiong, Sieh Kiong, Amin, Nowshad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Dashboards; Data transmission; Design; Efficiency; Electric potential; Embedded systems; Energy harvesting; energy harvesting (EH); Energy resources; hybrid energy harvesting (HEH); Illumination; Internet; Internet of Things; internet of things (IoT); Light; Power supply; Sensors; Smartphones; Solar energy; solar photovoltaic; Temperature gradients; Thermal energy; thermoelectric; Voltage; Wearable computers; Wireless sensor networks; wireless sensor networks (WSNs)
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s21082604

In this paper, an integrated thermoelectric (TE) and photovoltaic (PV) hybrid energy harvesting system (HEHS) is proposed for self-powered internet of thing (IoT)-enabled wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The proposed system can run at a minimum of 0.8 V input voltage under indoor light illumination of at least 50 lux and a minimum temperature difference, ∆ = 5 °C. At the lowest illumination and temperature difference, the device can deliver 0.14 W of power. At the highest illumination of 200 lux and ∆ = 13 °C, the device can deliver 2.13 W. The developed HEHS can charge a 0.47 F, 5.5 V supercapacitor (SC) up to 4.12 V at the combined input voltage of 3.2 V within 17 s. In the absence of any energy sources, the designed device can back up the complete system for 92 s. The sensors can successfully send 39 data string to the webserver within this time at a two-second data transmission interval. A message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) based IoT framework with a customised smartphone application 'MQTT dashboard' is developed and integrated with an ESP32 Wi-Fi module to transmit, store, and monitor the sensors data over time. This research, therefore, opens up new prospects for self-powered autonomous IoT sensor systems under fluctuating environments and energy harvesting regimes, however, utilising available atmospheric light and thermal energy.