Affiliation:
1. National Research Council of Italy, Branch of Lecce Lecce Italy
2. Department of Innovation Engineering University of Salento and CNIT Lecce Italy
3. Department of Innovation Engineering University of Salento Lecce Italy
Abstract
AbstractMonitoring electric power systems is essential for avoiding disruptions, improving efficiency, and detecting faults. Traditional methods involve interrupting the power lines and pose safety risks. On the contrary, non‐contact power meters allow for safe power measurement without touching the wires but designing them presents challenges related to battery life and sustainability. This paper introduces a novel battery‐less RF‐powered wireless circuit that overcomes these limitations and optimizes the performance of the sensing of the voltage. This circuit includes an efficient RF‐DC converter, a designed non‐contact flexible and curved AC voltage sensor, a signal conditioning circuit, a digital processing unit, and a passive UHF Radio‐Frequency Identification interface for wireless communication. It harnesses electromagnetic energy from the radio front end to power the entire system. The circuit has been properly conceptualized, developed, and analyzed through electrical modeling and SPICE simulations. Transient and steady‐state analyses have been carefully conducted on individual circuit blocks to analyze their electric characteristics. Finally, a proof‐of‐concept circuit has been realized and experimentally verified to validate the simulation outcomes. With a bandwidth of 3 kHz, an RF‐DC conversion sensitivity of −16 dBm, a current consumption of only 2.2 mA, and an efficient power management procedure, this energy‐autonomous, non‐contact metering circuit offers very high RF and sensing sensitivities and ultra‐low power consumption, making it ideal for monitoring AC electric systems, particularly in inaccessible environments where battery‐based solutions are impractical.