Optimizing Energy Harvesting System at Seismic Node: A Case of NNNSS Nodes

Seismic node is a relatively low duty acquisition electronic system that needs a reliable and continuous amount of electrical energy to perform optimally. Typically, the energy harvesting system at the node has low efficiency, fails frequently, and the node has gaps in its database. The key issues are losses across the employed conventional DC-DC converter employed. The study intends to address these losses by integrating the maximum power point tracking algorithm across the converter and optimally convert the harvested energy and deliver a simple, optimized, and cost-efficient system. The simulated results showed that the algorithm optimized the harvested energy. The performance in terms of power losses and outputs, as well as comparison with the existing power supply at the node, were simulated using PSIM. An additional 80% of power was delivered. The contributions of this study are: (1) identifying the constraints of energy harvesting system at NNNSS node and optimizing the constraints to delivering continuous power, and (2) implementing a simple and cost-effective energy harvesting system at the remote seismic node.