Energy Harvesting Devices for High Voltage Transmission Line Monitoring

Sensor nodes with wireless communication capability are essential elements in future intelligent transmission line monitoring system. This paper focuses on designing two types of transmission line mounted energy harvesting devices to realize the self-power of these nodes. First, the well-known electric field based energy harvesting method is further analyzed to identify circuit design guidelines. Then, a feasibility study of a low cost linear generator that utilizes the magnetic field produced by high voltage dc lines is presented. Although the power density of the linear generator is low, a case study shows that it could be utilized to continuously charge a battery for pulsed communications.