Self-Powered Wireless Sensor Network for Environmental Monitoring

Environmental monitoring serves a vital scientific role by revealing long-term trends that can lead to new knowledge and better understanding of the environment. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are ideal systems for environmental monitoring. Inch scale sensors, with low cost can be deployed over large areas to collect data. However, the energy efficiency of these sensor nodes is limited. Energy harvesting techniques can extend the network lifetime. In this paper, we introduce a self-powered prototype for real-time temperature, humidity and soil moisture monitoring. The prototype uses solar panels to harvest energy from the environment.