Utilizing Renewable Energy in Cluster-based Sensor Networks

Energy conservation plays a crucial in wireless sensor networks since such networks are designed to be placed in hostile and non-accessible areas. While battery-driven sensors will run out of battery sooner or later, the use of renewable energy sources such as solar power or gravitation may extend the lifetime of a sensor. We propose to utilize solar power in wireless sensor networks and extend LEACH a well-known cluster-based protocol for sensor networks to become solar-aware. The presented simulation results show that making LEACH solar-aware significantly extends the lifetime of sensor networks.