Maximum Residual Energy Routing in Wastage-Aware Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Networks

Traditional battery-powered sensor networks suffer from the inevitable lifetime limit due to the finite capacity of batteries. Energy harvesting WSN systems can provide a sustainable solution, however, the energy harvest properties need to be incorporated into the network design. In this paper, we consider the incorporation of energy-harvesting hardware, such as Photovoltaic (PV) panels, into the sensor nodes to augment the initial energy supply and to prolong or potentially achieve unlimited lifetime. In addition to accounting for node residual battery levels and forecast energy harvest, we propose a route selection scheme that takes into account the predicted wastage due to overcharge of finite battery, which has not been previously considered. We show in the simulation results that higher total residual energy can be achieved by considering energy harvest wastage into the routing decisions.