Application of low-power energy harvesting solutions in the railway field: a review

In order to ensure safety and reliability of railway transportation the interest in monitoring systems is constantly increasing. These devices include sensors and electronic components, which need electric power supply for their proper working. However not all railway lines and vehicles are provided with electric power, furthermore, it can be complex to provide energy to sensors by cables in some location of the vehicle. The demand of a widespread distributed electrical energy can be fulfilled by energy harvesting techniques from primary sources. This paper analyses the different concepts of energy harvesters proposed in literature for the railway field, both for on board and wayside applications. The harvesters are classified according to the source from which energy is harvested and for each type of harvester advantages and disadvantages are critically discussed. The proposed review highlights the most promising solutions regarding energy harvesting in order to support future researches concerning this topic.