Energy autonomous wireless sensing node working at 5 Lux from a 4 cm2 solar cell

Meli, Marcel Louis; Favre, Sebastien; Maij, Benjamin; Stajic, Stefan; Boebel, Manuel; Poole, Philip John; Schellenberg, Martin; Kouzinopoulos, Charalampos S.

doi:10.3390/jlpea13010012

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-26961

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Energy autonomous wireless sensing node working at 5 Lux from a 4 cm2 solar cell
Authors:	Meli, Marcel Louis Favre, Sebastien Maij, Benjamin Stajic, Stefan Boebel, Manuel Poole, Philip John Schellenberg, Martin Kouzinopoulos, Charalampos S.
et. al:	No
DOI:	10.3390/jlpea13010012 10.21256/zhaw-26961
Published in:	Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications
Volume(Issue):	13
Issue:	1
Page(s):	12
Issue Date:	1-Feb-2023
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	MDPI
ISSN:	2079-9268
Language:	English
Subjects:	Energy harvesting; Energy autonomy; Solar cell; Low power; Comparator; Touch sensor; Bluetooth low energy; Low light
Subject (DDC):	621.3: Electrical, communications, control engineering
Abstract:	Harvesting energy for IoT nodes in places that are permanently poorly lit is important, as many such places exist in buildings and other locations. The need for energy-autonomous devices working in such environments has so far received little attention. This work reports the design and test results of an energy-autonomous sensor node powered solely by solar cells. The system can cold-start and run in low light conditions (in this case 20 lux and below, using white LEDs as light sources). Four solar cells of 1 cm2 each are used, yielding a total active surface of 4 cm2. The system includes a capacitive sensor that acts as a touch detector, a crystal-accurate real-time clock (RTC), and a Cortex-M3-compatible microcontroller integrating a Bluetooth Low Energy radio (BLE) and the necessary stack for communication. A capacitor of 100 μF is used as energy storage. A low-power comparator monitors the level of the energy storage and powers up the system. The combination of the RTC and touch sensor enables the MCU load to be powered up periodically or using an asynchronous user touch activity. First tests have shown that the system can perform the basic work of cold-starting, sensing, and transmitting frames at +0 dBm, at illuminances as low as 5 lux. Harvesting starts earlier, meaning that the potential for full function below 5 lux is present. The system has also been tested with other light sources. The comparator is a test chip developed for energy harvesting. Other elements are off-the-shelf components. The use of commercially available devices, the reduced number of parts, and the absence of complex storage elements enable a small node to be built in the future, for use in constantly or intermittently poorly lit places.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/26961
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	CC BY 4.0: Attribution 4.0 International
Departement:	School of Engineering
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Embedded Systems (InES)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen School of Engineering

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Meli, M. L., Favre, S., Maij, B., Stajic, S., Boebel, M., Poole, P. J., Schellenberg, M., & Kouzinopoulos, C. S. (2023). Energy autonomous wireless sensing node working at 5 Lux from a 4 cm2 solar cell. Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications, 13(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/jlpea13010012

Meli, M.L. et al. (2023) ‘Energy autonomous wireless sensing node working at 5 Lux from a 4 cm2 solar cell’, Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications, 13(1), p. 12. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/jlpea13010012.

M. L. Meli et al., “Energy autonomous wireless sensing node working at 5 Lux from a 4 cm2 solar cell,” Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 12, Feb. 2023, doi: 10.3390/jlpea13010012.

MELI, Marcel Louis, Sebastien FAVRE, Benjamin MAIJ, Stefan STAJIC, Manuel BOEBEL, Philip John POOLE, Martin SCHELLENBERG und Charalampos S. KOUZINOPOULOS, 2023. Energy autonomous wireless sensing node working at 5 Lux from a 4 cm2 solar cell. Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications. 1 Februar 2023. Bd. 13, Nr. 1, S. 12. DOI 10.3390/jlpea13010012

Meli, Marcel Louis, Sebastien Favre, Benjamin Maij, Stefan Stajic, Manuel Boebel, Philip John Poole, Martin Schellenberg, and Charalampos S. Kouzinopoulos. 2023. “Energy Autonomous Wireless Sensing Node Working at 5 Lux from a 4 Cm2 Solar Cell.” Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications 13 (1): 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/jlpea13010012.

Meli, Marcel Louis, et al. “Energy Autonomous Wireless Sensing Node Working at 5 Lux from a 4 Cm2 Solar Cell.” Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications, vol. 13, no. 1, Feb. 2023, p. 12, https://doi.org/10.3390/jlpea13010012.