Start-Up and Saturation Optimization of High-Power Energy Harvester With Compound Topologies Overhead AC Transmission Line

Abstract

With the continuous development of power automation and smart grids, online monitoring equipment has been utilized more widely for inspection of the state of high-voltage ac transmission lines. To ensure the stable and effective work of the monitoring device, the problem of power supply needs to be solved urgently. Although the inductive energy harvester penetrated through line has been extensively researched, the practical process has been greatly hindered caused by the core materials, which cannot simultaneously combine two advantages of both high permeability and high saturation. Based on the inherent contradiction of the inductive energy harvester, the structure of compound cores with different intrinsic properties is adopted. In addition, three optimization topologies for the structure are proposed. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the proposed structures and topologies have certain advantages over the conventional structure in terms of effective start-up sensitivity, saturation performance, and gained power. The proposed energy harvesters also broaden the effective working range by enduring the primary current fluctuation. The simulation and experimental results verify the correctness of the theoretical analysis and the validity of the topologies.