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Atmospheric Sensors and Energy Harvesters on Overhead Power Lines
Richard M White1, Duy-Son Nguyen2, Zhiwei Wu3
1Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. rwhite@eecs.berkeley.edu.
Abstract:
We demonstrate the feasibility of using novel, small energy harvesters to power atmospheric sensors and radios simply attached to a single conductor of existing overhead power distribution lines. We demonstrate the ability to harvest the required power for operating multiple atmospheric and power-system sensors, together with short-range radios that could broadcast atmospheric sensor data to the cellphones of people nearby. Occasional long-range broadcasts of the data could also be made of both atmospheric and power-line conditions.
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