An Energy-Autonomous Wireless Sensor with Simultaneous Energy Harvesting and Ambient Light Sensing

Wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) are generally powered by batteries, which results in a substantial limitation to the places where the nodes can be installed, to the maximum number of deployable devices, and to the node lifetime. To meet the demand for Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications that require a large number of maintenance-free, low cost, wireless sensor nodes, this paper proposes a wireless sensor platform with a single photovoltaic transducer that performs the dual role of harvesting energy and sensing ambient light. This dual use allows even smaller and cheaper nodes that do not require any form of supporting external power, with a reduced component count. The device implements off-the-shelf components on a 2 x 2cm2 printed circuit board (PCB) with a thickness of 0.45 cm. It features Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication and can harvest and sense indoor ambient light with a limit of detection of 200 lux.