Miniaturized Magnetic Energy Harvester: Lightweight and Safe Transformer Design

Energy harvesting technology is a key enabler for the application of sensing systems in remote locations. For condition monitoring of large-scale electrical engines (LSEE) magnetic energy harvesting (MEH) has been suggested as a suitable technique. MEH can provide comparatively high output powers. A critical parameter for the design of a MEH system is the ratio between the maximum and the minimum operating current. In the case of a large ration the design of a MEH system becomes challenging. Protective measures are required to prevent a destruction at high primary currents. In this paper we investigate a miniaturized magnetic energy harvesting design, where the transformer consists of a single sheet of steel. We investigate the output power performance of the design with respect to low power applications and show, that the miniaturized design is intrinsically safe with respect to high primary currents.