Energy harvesting technique for powering autonomous sensors within substations

Abstract

Condition monitoring plays an increasingly important role in the asset management of the electricity transmission infrastructure. More accurate tracking of the plant health could be achieved through the addition of more sensors. The installation or operating costs of more sensors could outweigh the benefits they bring due to the requirement for new cabling or battery maintenance respectively. The proposed energy harvesting device could enable new generation of wireless sensors to be maintenance free over their lifetime and drastically reduce the cost of adding more sensors.