An Electric Field Energy Harvesting System Prototype for Smart High-Voltage Transmission Grids

M. Moreno-Eguilaz(1), S. Bogarra(2), M. Cruble(3), A. Autuche(3), J.R. Riba(2) 1. Department of Electronic Engineering AMBER, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Campus of Terrassa – UPC, Terrassa, Spain 2. Department of Electrical Enginering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Campus de Terrassa (UPC), Terrassa, Spain 3. Polytech Clermont INP, Université Clermont Auvergne, Campus Universitaire des Cézeaux 2026-06-27

Abstract

The increasing deployment of smart power lines andsmart grid infrastructures requires a large number of distributed Internet of Things (IoT) devices for wireless monitoring, which has motivated the development of autonomous, maintenance-free power supplies. Electric-field energy harvesting (EFEH) exploits the displacement current induced by the time-varying electric field surrounding alternating-current power conductors. This enables non-contact energy extraction, the available power of which scales primarily with line voltage, capacitive coupling and operating frequency, while remaining independent of line current. This paper presents the design and laboratory validation of a complete EFEH system for high-voltage power lines comprising a harvesting interface, a rectification stage and power management circuitry. The system was evaluated in a controlled high-voltage cage. The experimental results demonstrate the functionality of the proposed system in sustaining intermittent wireless operation at an applied voltage of 10 kV. This capacity is evidenced by the successful transmission of Bluetooth Low Energy sensor data at 130-second intervals. These results provide experimental evidence to support the displacement-current scaling laws theoretically predicted for EFEH and clarify its practical operating limits as a power source for battery-less smart-grid IoT devices.

Key words: Energy harvesting, electric field, high voltage, ultra-low-power electronics.

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