ELECTROMAGNETIC HARVESTING TO POWER ENERGY MANAGEMENT SENSORS IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Recently, a growing body of scholarly work in the field of energy conservation is focusing on the implementation of energy management sensors in the power distribution system. Since most of these sensors are either battery operated or hardwired to the existing power distribution system, their use comes with major drawbacks. Battery maintenance and associated labor costs can make implementing sensors very expensive. Although hardwired sensors require very little post-installation maintenance, any energy savings they may procure is offset by the amount of energy expended during the course of the sensors normal operation. In response to these energy challenges, this thesis proposes an electromagnetic harvesting device that powers such sensor technologies by scavenging low electromagnetic field energy. First, the quantities of magnetic flux densities around common current carrying conductors in the built environment are estimated according to the equivalent amount of power that can be generated. Then, a prototype of the harvesting device for scavenging low magnetic flux is designed and developed. Finally, the device is evaluated for real-world implementation using a novel prototype board. Adviser: Mahmoud Alahma