WGUs sensor based on integrated wind-induced generating units for 360° wind energy harvesting and self-powered wind velocity sensing

• Published in: RSC advances Vol. 7; no. 37; pp. 2328 - 23214
• Main Authors: Li, Wenlong, Guo, Hengyu, Xi, Yi, Wang, Chuanshen, Javed, Muhammad Sufyan, Xia, Xiaona, Hu, Chenguo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• ISSN: 2046-2069; 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/c7ra02709e

Wind, as a natural power source, can be used to produce electricity using wind generators. However, detecting wind velocity has been challenging because wind always blows in a random direction. In this study, we design a self-powered wind velocity sensor based on integrated wind-induced generating units (WGUs) to harvest wind energy from all directions in a plane and as a self-powered wind velocity sensor (denoted as WGUs sensor). A wind-induced generating unit consists of two parallel plate Cu-electrodes (size 1.5 × 4 cm 2 , gap 0.5 cm) and a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin film between them. The W-TGUs sensor can be effectively used to harvest wind energy from all directions in a plane by integrating the W-TGUs in circular and vertical directions. The output current and voltage of every WGU are 1-3.5 μA, and 13-20 V under a wind speed of 6-27 m s −1 . The output rectified current of WGUs, with vertically integrated one to five WGUs, was 1.3-6.8 μA under a wind speed of 8 m s −1 . Moreover, the W-TGUs sensor can detect a wind velocity from all directions on a plane with a resolution ratio of 0.13 (m s −1 ) Hz −1 and a response time of 0.15 s, which is a very important advantage as a self-powered wind velocity sensor. The output power of the WGUs sensor can be greatly enhanced by increasing the number of WGUs. This study provides a novel design for harvesting wind energy and sensing wind velocity from a random direction on a plane. TENG for harvesting wind energy and self-powered wind velocity sensing in 360° (WGUs). The output current and voltage of a WGU can be attained 3.5 μA and 20 V. The WGUs sensor has a high-resolution ratio (0.13 (m s −1 ) Hz −1 ) and 0.15 s response time.