Energy harvesting for a wireless monitoring system of overhead high-voltage power lines

For electric power transmission the overhead power line monitoring system plays an important role in operating security for grid operators as well as high supply availability at optimised cost. In this study, an approach to harvesting energy from the electric field around the conductor to supply the wireless sensor nodes was investigated. Special requirements in functionality, reliability and limited accessibility at the power line result in the development of a specific energy management strategy. A prototype of the power module was realised and tested under high voltage laboratory conditions. Then, a field test was carried out under real operating conditions. The test results confirm that the power module can collect enough energy to power the sensor nodes. The contribution in this study presents theoretical considerations of energy availability from the electric field, design of energy management and results from measurements with the prototype in a high voltage laboratory and in field test. The field test results demonstrate that the energy harvester can collect enough energy to power the sensor nodes by 16 mW.