A Rotational Wind Energy Harvester and Self-Powered Portable Weather Station

Abstract

Weather station is a prominent facility that monitors the environment and provides different weather information such as the atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, and air quality. However, in remote areas where electricity is not accessible, one of the significant challenges is to supply power to the weather station. To overcome this problem, a rotational Halbach array-based wind energy harvester is proposed which generates a high output power enough to drive individual functional units and IoT sensors for the realization of a self-powered weather station. The Halbach array magnet was utilized to guide the overall magnetic flux in a single direction, which increases the magnetic flux linkage and enhances the output performance of the harvester. The magnetic flux density of the Halbach array magnet increased four-fold compared to the conventional magnet while the miniaturized harvester delivered a high power density of 603.2 W/m3. Furthermore, MXene/Polyvinylfluoride-co-trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE) was utilized as a negative triboelectric material for the determination of wind speed owing to its high electronegativity and sensitivity. Thus, this work can pave a path of research for the development of high-performance energy harvesters and self-powered IoT systems for practical use.