NODES - SPOKE 6 Project VINO - D3.3 - Final report on PMFCs for environmental sensors and vineyard health evaluation

In the context of the NODES project, a new indoor prototype of PMFC has been developed, with the pot (or jar) containing the plants being on the top and drainage water percolating to the container below, where a microbial fuel cell was placed. An ad hoc part of the prototype contains the electrical circuit realized by the engineering team, which also worked to optimize the energy harvesting procedure, as part of the project. This can be considered the demonstrator for the PMFC harvester complete prototype*. Furthermore, other activities carried out during the project include: • Optimization of the electrical performance of PMFCs in indoor environment. • Experimentation in outdoor environment. • Development and characterization of DC-DC electronics for PMFC energy harvesting • Measure of actual continuous power available (bacteria’s instant continuous power) • Development of a smart JAR prototype for PMFC+energy harvesting electronics* The project was implemented over three years. The main activities and outputs realized in the project about PMFC research and characterization are described below, in chronological order. Details will be given instead about the development of the actual prototype (smart Jar), including PMFC and detailed measurements, as well as energy harvesting electronics in a separated paragraph, being a continuous activity throughout the three years. Same applies for measurements about peak and actual available continuous power from PMFCs, i.e. bacteria’s instant and continuous power. This document is a deliverable of the project VINO ("VIneyard management for viNeprOduction"), which proposes research for sustainable innovation supported by the digitalisation of the wine sector with the primary objective of creating new solutions and readapting existing practices to cope with the effects of climate change in viticulture. This document is part of the project NODES which has received funding from the MUR – Missione 4, Componente 2, Investimento 1.5 – Creazione e rafforzamento di “Ecosistemi dell’innovazione”, costruzione di “leader territoriali di R&S'' – del PNRR funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU with grant agreement no. ECS00000036