infoTECH Feature

April 25, 2011

Powercast Introduces Wireless Sensor System for Environmental Monitoring

A leading innovator in the field of RF energy harvesting and wireless power technology, Powercast Corporation recently launched Lifetime Power Wireless Sensor System for wireless environmental monitoring in HVAC control and building automation.

Company officials said that the system is equipped with remote radio frequency (RF) transmitters that broadcast RF energy. This perpetually powers wireless sensor nodes without batteries or wires.

According to estimates from Powercast Wireless, a battery-less, wirelessly-powered sensor system has the potential of saving 40 to 50 percent costs over the installation cost of wired sensors and controllers for building automation systems. The system, according to Powercast, can also eliminate the future and repeated maintenance cost of battery replacement and disposal.

Based on company's core RF transmitter (Powercaster) and receiver (Powerharvester) energy-harvesting technology, the Powercast wireless sensor system is composed of three parts: a family of battery-less sensor nodes embedded with Powercast's Powerharvester receivers so they may be powered wirelessly; a WSG-101 Building Automation System (BAS) Gateway (News - Alert), and Powercast's TX91501 Powercaster transmitter. The receiver embedded in the sensor nodes is based on Powercast's award-winning P2110 Powerharvester receiver, which is available for OEMs to design into their own products.

“Powercast's wirelessly-powered sensors offer the long-term predictability of wired sensors with the deployment flexibility of battery-powered systems. We look forward to its wide-scale deployment and to further adoption of our core wireless power technology by other sensor OEMs,” vice president of marketing and business development at Powercast Harry Ostaffe noted in a statement.

In the release, Powercast informed that the fully-installed cost of the Lifetime Power Wireless Sensor System, including all hardware (sensors, transmitters and BAS gateway) and labor, is estimated to be around $300 per node for typical, multi-node deployments. The interested customers can begin with a starter kit, comprising of two wireless temperature and humidity sensors, a transmitter and a BAS gateway.

In other news, Powercast Corporation’s P2110 Powerharvester receiver has been named the 2011 Golden Mousetrap Best Product winner in the category of wireless/mobile components by Design News.


Madhubanti Rudra is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Carrie Schmelkin
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