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. 2024 Nov 30;24(23):7687.
doi: 10.3390/s24237687.

Powering Agriculture IoT Sensors Using Natural Temperature Differences Between Air and Soil: Measurement and Evaluation

Kamil Bancik  1 , Jaromir Konecny  1 , Jiri Konecny  1 , Miroslav Mikus  1 , Jan Choutka  1 , Radim Hercik  1 , Jiri Koziorek  1 , Dangirutis Navikas  2 , Darius Andriukaitis  2 , Michal Prauzek  1
Affiliations

Powering Agriculture IoT Sensors Using Natural Temperature Differences Between Air and Soil: Measurement and Evaluation

Kamil Bancik et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

As the need to monitor agriculture parameters intensifies, the development of new sensor nodes for data collection is crucial. These sensor types naturally require power for operation, but conventional battery-based power solutions have certain limitations. This study investigates the potential of harnessing the natural temperature gradient between soil and air to power wireless sensor nodes deployed in environments such as agricultural areas or remote off-grid locations where the use of batteries as a power source is impractical. We evaluated existing devices that exploit similar energy sources and applied the results to develop a state-of-the-art device for extensive testing over a 12-month period. Our main objective was to precisely measure the temperature on a thermoelectric generator (TEG) (a Peltier cell, in particular) and assess the device's energy yield. The device harvested 7852.2 J of electrical energy during the testing period. The experiment highlights the viability of using environmental temperature differences to power wireless sensor nodes in off-grid and battery-constrained applications. The results indicate significant potential for the device as a sustainable energy solution in agricultural monitoring scenarios.

Keywords: IoT; energy harvesting; environmental monitoring; smart agriculture; temperature measurement; thermoelectric generator.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Concept of an energy-harvesting IoT sensor powered by the natural temperature differences between air and soil. Batteryless sensors are powered with harvested energy, and measurement data are transmitted to the cloud.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The principle of converting the heat flux generated by the temperature difference between the ground and the ambient air using a TEG.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Prototype of energy-harvesting device: (a) photograph in profile (b) cross-sectional drawing.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Measurement setup block diagram depicting the data acquisition unit and NI components for collecting temperature data from the prototype.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Sensor calibration in a climate chamber to improve temperature measurement accuracy.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The energy-harvesting device deployed at the experiment site. The upper part of the prototype is shown, with a heat sink and its ambient temperature sensor equipped with a radiation shield.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Day temperature curves from T1–T7 PT100 sensors.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Daily average of the absolute temperature difference and power output on the TEG during the measurement period.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Monthly distribution of energy harvested by the TEG, categorized according to the direction of heat flow through the energy-harvesting device prototype.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Simulated quantity of energy after conversion by the LTC3109 DC/DC converter according to its efficiency curve, divided by the monthly contributions and heat flow direction through the energy-harvesting device prototype.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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