Wind energy harvesting using electrostatic converter for wireless sensor networks

Abstract

In this paper, electrostatic wind energy harvesting using a multi-pole capacitor has been proposed and demonstrated. First, the operation of the harvester and the electrostatic converter is explained. Subsequently, the construction and mathematical modeling of the multi pole capacitor is described to find the amount of harvested energy at various wind speeds. Next, operation of the energy transfer circuit and the controller are presented. Lastly, energy optimization is conducted for the multi poles capacitors. Results of the optimization indicate that the maximum energy can be harvested when the wind speed is 10 m/sec, the battery voltage is 10 V, and the number of capacitors in the array is 20. Furthermore, the amount of harvested energy from wind is sufficient for a successful transmission of many data packets in wireless manner using the RF transmitter.