Development of a Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting System to Power Small Electronic Devices

Amanya Denis, Aliyu Hassan, Cartland Richard

Abstract


Autonomous electronic loads such as remote sensors, IoT modules, and hidden micro-devices lack convenient or continuous access to traditional power lines. This can be addressed by harvesting ambient radio-frequency energy. The project designed and constructed a prototype system comprising a ferrite-rod and long-wire monopole antenna tuned via a gang-capacitor network, a Schottky-diode half-wave rectifier, and supercapacitor energy storage. Under optimal tuning at approximately 1.1 MHz, the rectifier delivered a peak DC voltage of 0.45 V into a 1.315 kΩ load, corresponding to a maximum harvested power of 0.154 mW and an output current of 0.342 mA. By charging two series 2.2 F supercapacitors to 2.45 V over 60 minutes, the system demonstrated sufficient energy accumulation to support brief, duty-cycled operations such as periodic LED indicator without external batteries. These results confirm that ambient RF sources can be tapped for small-scale power, validating RF energy harvesting as a sustainable, maintenance-free solution for low-power autonomous devices. With further enhancements such as multi-band antennas, lower-threshold rectifiers, and adaptive impedance matching this technology holds promise for truly self-powered sensor networks and wearable systems. 


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References


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