Fully Printed and Scalable Current and Voltage Sensors for Smart Grid Transmission Line Monitoring

In the construction and operation of smart grids, real-time monitoring of electrical signals is crucial for achieving efficient and stable power transmission, so it is necessary to develop current and voltage sensors with high stability, mass manufacturing and light weight. This study presents a current and voltage sensor based on fully printed technology for electrical signal monitoring of transmission lines. The current sensor is supported and insulated by polyimide, and successfully fabricates the 3D induction coil through screen printing and high-precision inkjet printing processes, achieving a sensitivity of 0.00823 mV/A and a linearity of 0.999 in 0-60 A. The voltage sensor is made of polyimide film as the substrate, and a pair of silver sensing electrodes are prepared by screen printing process, achieving a sensitivity of 0.00369 μA/V and a linearity of 0.999 in 0-1200 V, with stable output over a continuous operation of 24 h. The overall size of the current and voltage sensor is 1.5 cm × 2 cm, the weight is 1.8 g, the cost is about USD 0.462, and it has the advantages of low cost, lightweight, good linearity, high stability, simple structure, and scalable preparation. This work provides a new sensor fabrication method for current and voltage monitoring in transmission lines.