Energy Harvesting Plant Sensor Powered by Grow Light Panel with Variable Wavelength

Good-quality environmental data acquisition is key for optimization of plant growing process. In such applications the data is collected using wireless sensor nodes that employ solar panels illuminated with artificial grow lights as the energy source. This contribution describes experimental solar panel testing setup of a wireless sensor node in which quasi-monochromatic and white lights with various spectral characteristics and intensities were used to power plant growth monitoring device. Results from the experiments show significant spectral dependencies that affect solar panel efficiency ranging from 6.4 % up to 20.8 %. Therefore, solar panels and grow lights need to match up so as to maximize performance of plant growth monitoring system.