Digital colorimetric sensing for real‐time gas monitoring for smart green energy system

In this study, we demonstrate that a digital colorimetric sensor platform can transform a conventional energy system, such as gas‐insulated switchgear (GIS) into a smart green energy system. Our sensor platform consists of a colorimetric sensor film (CSF), an array of silicon photodiodes, and a low‐power‐driven fiber optical photodiode with a wireless communication protocol integrated into an information network. The photodiode measures the transmitted light of the color‐variable CSF when exposed to sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) gas, a decomposition by‐product of the sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) gas in GIS. We report the electrical photocurrent measurement through the CSF can measure the concentration of SO 2 gas via remote and real‐time monitoring and shows a comparable behavior to UV–Vis absorption measurement. The limit of detection of the sensor, 0.78 ppm is sufficient to analyze the GIS insulation deterioration allowing green energy systems. image