Wind energy harvesting from bus ventilation system for onboard applications

Buses equipped with various sensors are emerging as important information nodes of the Internet of Things and smart city networks. This study presents a novel sustainable solution for powering onboard applications by harvesting wind energy from the bus ventilation system. The proposed solution comprises a wind energy harvester (WEH) and an energy management module. The WEH consists of a deflector, a two-stage Savonius blade, an acceleration module, and an electromagnetic power generation module utilizing Halbach magnet arrays. The WEH converts wind energy into electrical energy, while the energy management module stabilizes the fluctuating alternating current into a steady direct current suitable for bus applications. The magnet and coil parameters of the electromagnetic generation module were optimized using COMSOL Multiphysics simulations. Subsequently, wind tunnel experiments are performed to determine the optimal WEH configuration across a range of wind speeds. Experimental results demonstrate that the WEH achieves an average output power of 2.11 W at a wind speed of 14 m/s, with an estimated daily energy generation of 6.54 Wh. Furthermore, the feasibility of the proposed solution is validated through practical experiments involving actual power supply and charging scenarios.