Powering Autonomous Sensors An Integral Approach with Focus on Solar
Autonomous sensors transmit data and power their electronics without using cables. They can be found in e.g. wireless sensor networks (WSNs) or remote acquisition systems. Although primary batteries provide a simple design for powering autonomous sensors,
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María Teresa Penella-López Manuel Gasulla-Forner
Powering Autonomous Sensors An Integral Approach with Focus on Solar and RF Energy Harvesting
María Teresa Penella-López Electrical Engineering Univ. Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC) Isabena 15 Monzon, Huesca, 22400 Spain [email protected]
Manuel Gasulla-Forner Electronic Engineering Univ. Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC) c/ Esteve Terradas 7 Castelldefels, Barcelona, 08860 Spain [email protected]
ISBN 978-94-007-1572-1 e-ISBN 978-94-007-1573-8 DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-1573-8 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2011929348 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Cover design: VTeX UAB, Lithuania Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
A mi familia María Teresa Penella A la meva família Manuel Gasulla
Preface
Autonomous sensors do not use cables either for transmitting data or for powering electronics. They can be found in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) or in remote acquisition systems. Primary batteries provide a simple design for the powering of autonomous sensors. However, batteries must be replaced when depleted, which can lead to unacceptable maintenance costs whenever the number of autonomous sensors is very large or their accessibility is difficult or impractical. An alternative is to extract energy from the ambient, which is usually known as energy harvesting. However, the reduced dimensions of most autonomous sensors lead to a low available power from the energy transducer. Thus, efficient methods and circuits to manage and gather the energy are a must. This book tackles the powering of autonomous sensors, providing an integral approach by considering both primary batteries and energy harvesting. Two rather different forms of energy harvesting are further dealt with: optical (solar) and radiofrequency (RF). Optical energy presents high energy density, especially outdoors, whereas RF remote powering can be the most feasible option for autonomous sensors embedded into the soil or within structures. Throughout the different chapters, devices such as primary and secondary batteries, supercapacitors, and the energy transducers are extensively reviewed. Then, circuits and methods found in the literature to efficiently extract and gather the energy are presented. Finally, new proposals based in our own research are analyzed and tested. Each chapter is written to be rather independent, incorporating the related literature references into each one. Chapter 1 first presents autonomous sensors and the feasible energy sources. Both primary batte
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