IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v13y2020i3p674-d316489.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Self-Powered Autonomous Wireless Sensor Node by Using Silicon-Based 3D Thermoelectric Energy Generator for Environmental Monitoring Application

Author

Listed:
  • Jong-Pil Im

    (ICT Creative Research Laboratory, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Daejeon 34129, Korea)

  • Jeong Hun Kim

    (ICT Creative Research Laboratory, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Daejeon 34129, Korea)

  • Jae Woo Lee

    (ICT Creative Research Laboratory, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Daejeon 34129, Korea)

  • Ji Yong Woo

    (ICT Creative Research Laboratory, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Daejeon 34129, Korea)

  • Sol Yee Im

    (ICT Creative Research Laboratory, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Daejeon 34129, Korea)

  • Yeriaron Kim

    (ICT Creative Research Laboratory, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Daejeon 34129, Korea)

  • Yong-Sung Eom

    (ICT Creative Research Laboratory, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Daejeon 34129, Korea)

  • Won Chul Choi

    (Samsung electronics, Suwon 18382, Korea)

  • Jun Soo Kim

    (Material Science and Mechanical Engineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA)

  • Seung Eon Moon

    (ICT Creative Research Laboratory, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Daejeon 34129, Korea)

Abstract

In this paper, we present the results of a preliminary study on the self-powered autonomous wireless sensor node by using thermoelectric energy generator based on Silicon (Si) thermoelectric legs, energy management integrated circuit (EMIC), Radio Frequency (RF) module with a temperature and humidity sensor, etc. A novel thermoelectric module structure is designed as an energy generator module, which consists of 127 pairs of Silicon legs and this module is fabricated and tested to demonstrate the feasibility of generating electrical power under the temperature gradient of 70K. EMIC has three key features besides high efficiency, which are maximum power point tracking (MPPT), cold start, and complete self-power operation. EMIC achieved a cold start voltage of 200 mV, peak efficiency of 78.7%, MPPT efficiency 99.4%, and an output power of 34 mW through only the Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) source. To assess the capability of the device as a small scale power source for internet of things (IoT) service, we also tested energy conversion and storage experiments. Finally, the proposed sensor node system which can transmit and monitor the information from the temperature and humidity sensor through the RF module in real time demonstrates the feasibility for variable applications.

Suggested Citation

  • Jong-Pil Im & Jeong Hun Kim & Jae Woo Lee & Ji Yong Woo & Sol Yee Im & Yeriaron Kim & Yong-Sung Eom & Won Chul Choi & Jun Soo Kim & Seung Eon Moon, 2020. "Self-Powered Autonomous Wireless Sensor Node by Using Silicon-Based 3D Thermoelectric Energy Generator for Environmental Monitoring Application," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:3:p:674-:d:316489
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/3/674/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/3/674/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Choi, Wonchul & Jun, Dongseok & Kim, Soojung & Shin, Mincheol & Jang, Moongyu, 2015. "Thermoelectric characteristics of Pt-silicide/silicon multi-layer structured p-type silicon," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 180-183.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Flávio Morais & Pedro Carvalhaes-Dias & Luís Duarte & Anderson Spengler & Kleber de Paiva & Thiago Martins & Andreu Cabot & José Siqueira Dias, 2020. "Optimization of the TEGs Configuration (Series/Parallel) in Energy Harvesting Systems with Low-Voltage Thermoelectric Generators Connected to Ultra-Low Voltage DC–DC Converters," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-12, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:3:p:674-:d:316489. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.