High sensitivity RF energy harvesting from AM broadcasting stations for civilian infrastructure degradation monitoring

In this paper, a high sensitivity RF energy harvester is presented with a potential application in powering wireless sensors for monitoring the degradation of civilian infrastructures. The harvester captures the ambient energy transmitted from the AM broadcasting stations and provides dc power to a sensor. The harvester discussed here can operate at input power levels as small as-39 dBm and generate a dc output voltage of ~2.5 V. Efficiency of the system is measured to be over 60% under the specified input condition.