Battery-less Long-Range LTE-M Water Leak Detector

TL;DR

This paper introduces a battery-less, self-powered LTE-M water leak detector that uses water exposure as an energy source, enabling long-range, maintenance-free monitoring suitable for remote areas.

Contribution

It presents a novel integrated system combining electrochemical energy harvesting, energy storage, and LTE-M communication on a single platform, eliminating batteries and gateways.

Findings

System successfully detects water and transmits data using harvested energy.

Laboratory tests confirm reliable operation and energy sufficiency.

Compatible with 3GPP standards for future 5G network integration.

Abstract

This work presents a self powered water leak sensor that eliminates both batteries and local gateways. The design integrates a dual compartment electrochemical harvester, a low input boost converter with supercapacitor storage, and a comparator gated LTE-M radio built on the Nordic Thingy:91 platform. Laboratory tests confirm that the system can be awakened from a dormant state in the presence of water, harvest sufficient energy, and issue repeated cloud beacons using the water exposure as the power source. Beyond conventional LTE-M deployments, the system's compatibility with 3GPP standard cellular protocols paves the way for future connectivity via non terrestrial 5G networks, enabling coverage in infrastructure scarce regions.