Irregular Wind Energy Harvesting by a Turbine Vent Triboelectric Nanogenerator and Its Application in a Self-Powered On-Site Industrial Monitoring System

Wind is a regenerative and sustainable green energy, but it is intermittent; especially, harvesting irregular wind energy is a great challenge for existing technologies. This study demonstrates a turbine vent triboelectric nanogenerator (TV-TENG), which can be utilized as both an irregular wind harvester and a self-powered environmental sensing system on the rooftops of buildings. At a wind speed of nearly 7 m/s, the TV-TENG delivers an open-circuit voltage of up to 178.2 V, a short-circuit current of 38.2 μA, and a corresponding peak power of 2.71 mW under an external load of 5 MΩ, which can be used to directly light up 120 green light-emitting diodes. Furthermore, a self-powered on-site industrial monitoring system has been developed, which can be improve the easiness and simpleness of the industry environment for temperature monitoring and safety warning. Increasing the fluidity of air inside and outside the device is a key factor in fabricating an efficient TV-TENG; it is a novel approach for harvesting irregular wind energy and is sensitive, reliable, waterproof, and easy to use. This work greatly expands the applicability of TENGs as energy harvesters for irregular wind and also as self-powered sensing systems for ambient detection.