Autonomous self-powered water meter

Advanced water metering infrastructure, which includes remote sensing technologies, networks, and data management, will require the development of smart water flow sensors at many locations in a network. Powering these sensors and associated transmitters or receivers remains a challenge. Local energy harvesting presents the opportunity as an enabling technology that can negate or reduce the impact of this challenge. We develop a multi-functional harvester/sensor device that can be used to sense and transmit data about flow rates in a pipe during specified periods by using the power it harvested during other periods. The harvested power could also be used to power other sensors to measure additional properties such as the temperature, pressure or chemical properties of water. Details of the proposed system are presented and data about voltage levels, harvested power, and current are discussed. Published by AIP Publishing.