A new thermoelectric-powered wireless sensor network platform is presented for the low-cost environmental sensing in building envelopes through thermoelectric energy harvesting and ultra-low power management. It is designed and prototyped entirely inside a window frame without compromising architectural aesthetics. This self-powered sensing platform is achieved by maximizing the harvested energy from building envelopes and optimizing the wireless sensing unit’s energy consumption. It harvests milli-watt level thermoelectric power from the temperature gradient across building envelopes through thermoelectric generators with an optimized thermal connector. The harvested energy is voltage-boosted and regulated through two integrated circuits that are tailored for ultra-low-power input. A low power system-on-chip is used to supervise the environmental sensing and wireless data communication. The energy consumption is tailored by adjusting the system sleep time to match the harvested energy. The proposed platform is prototyped in a window frame and thoroughly tested, where 1.5 mW of power is harvested from thermoelectric generators under 6 °C of temperature difference, and a 33.4% efficiency to the battery. In the meantime, 0.42 mW power is consumed by the wireless sensing unit under a sampling period of 2 h, which reaches the energy equilibrium state. The energy equilibrium algorithm can project the battery energy based on historical weather conditions, so as to achieve the self-powered condition given a geographic location. This smart building envelope systems include the unique innovations in self-powered system architecture, thermally optimized internal structure, and milli-watt level power management.

提出了一种新的热电驱动的无线传感器网络平台，通过热电能量收集和超低功耗管理，用于建筑围护结构中的低成本环境传感。它完全在窗框内设计和制作原型，而不会影响建筑美学。这种自供电传感平台是通过最大限度地从建筑围护结构中收集到的能量和优化无线传感单元的能源消耗来实现的。它通过带有优化热连接器的热电发电机从建筑围护结构的温度梯度中获取毫瓦级热电功率。收集到的能量通过两个专为超低功率输入量身定制的集成电路进行升压和调节。低功耗片上系统用于监督环境传感和无线数据通信。通过调整系统睡眠时间以匹配收集的能量来定制能耗。所提议的平台在窗框上进行原型制作并经过全面测试，在 6°C 温差下从热电发电机收集 1.5 mW 的功率，电池效率为 33.4%。同时，无线传感单元在 2 h 的采样周期内消耗 0.42 mW 的功率，达到能量平衡状态。能量均衡算法可以根据历史天气情况对电池能量进行预测，从而达到给定地理位置的自供电状态。这种智能建筑围护系统包括自供电系统架构的独特创新，