Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting: A New Approach

2017

This article reviews the mechanics of energy harvesting from various mechanical vibrations. Contemporary approach in hand-held electronic gadgets and low power sensors for wireless networks require a continuous or long battery life for uninturupted performance. Hence, there is a need for permanent and compact power supplies for advanced electronic devices. The most important part of the transducer is energy harvester which converts mechanical vibrations into electrical energy. Piezoelectric materials are important for energy conversion from mechanical vibrations. There has been a lot of research work to establish simple, clean and energy-e cient vibration-harvesting devices using piezoelectric materials. These piezoelectric substances are generally classi ed into piezoelectric ceramics and piezoelectric polymers. This review article discusses various piezoelectric materials and reviews some important device con gurations for piezo-electric energy harvesters.

Due to the development of ultra-low power portable electronics and wireless sensors, the use of ambient energy, such as vibration energy for harvesting energy using piezoelectric materials has aroused great interests. A number of techniques have been proposed by the researchers for harvesting energy from the vibration source. Mostly, the techniques are classified as narrowband or broadband depending on the range of frequencies in which they produce maximum power. Substantial research has been done by the researchers in both these areas and countless techniques are proposed in order to harvest maximum power. A study is needed to compare these techniques to suggest a proper technique for a typical application. This paper presents a detailed categorization of the various piezoelectric energy harvesting techniques and also covering each of them with suitable examples. The pros and cons of each technique are also presented.

Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 2008

Providing efficient and clean power is a challenge for devices that range from the micro to macro in scale. Although there has been significant progress in the development of micro-, meso-, and macro-scale power supplies and technologies, realization of many devices is limited by the inability of power supplies to scale with the diminishing sizes of CMOS-based technology. Here, the authors provide an overview of piezoelectric energy harvesting technology along with a discussion of proof of concept devices, relevant governing equations, and figures of merit. They present two case studies: (a) energy capture from the operation of a novel shear and elastic modulus indentation device subjected to applied voltage and (b) energy capture from vibrating commercial bimorph piezoelectric structures mounted on household appliances. Lastly, areas of development needed for realization of commercial energy harvesting devices are suggested.

Shock and Vibration Digest, 2004

The process of acquiring the energy surrounding a system and converting it into usable electrical energy is termed power harvesting. In the last few years, there has been a surge of research in the area of power harvesting. This increase in research has been brought on by the modern advances in wireless technology and low-power electronics such as microelectromechanical systems. The advances have allowed numerous doors to open for power harvesting systems in practical real-world applications. The use of piezoelectric materials to capitalize on the ambient vibrations surrounding a system is one method that has seen a dramatic rise in use for power harvesting. Piezoelectric materials have a crystalline structure that provides them with the ability to transform mechanical strain energy into electrical charge and, vice versa, to convert an applied electrical potential into mechanical strain. This property provides these materials with the ability to absorb mechanical energy from their surroundings, usually ambient vibration, and transform it into electrical energy that can be used to power other devices. While piezoelectric materials are the major method of harvesting energy, other methods do exist; for example, one of the conventional methods is the use of electromagnetic devices. In this paper we discuss the research that has been performed in the area of power harvesting and the future goals that must be achieved for power harvesting systems to find their way into everyday use.

Energies, 2018

From last few decades, piezoelectric materials have played a vital role as a mechanism of energy harvesting, as they have the tendency to absorb energy from the environment and transform it to electrical energy that can be used to drive electronic devices directly or indirectly. The power of electronic circuits has been cut down to nano or micro watts, which leads towards the development of self-designed piezoelectric transducers that can overcome power generation problems and can be self-powered. Moreover, piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEHs) can reduce the need for batteries, resulting in optimization of the weight of structures. These mechanisms are of great interest for many researchers, as piezoelectric transducers are capable of generating electric voltage in response to thermal, electrical, mechanical and electromagnetic input. In this review paper, Fluid Structure Interaction-based, human-based, and vibration-based energy harvesting mechanisms were studied. Moreover, quali...

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF R&D IN ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT, 2016

The concept of power harvesting has experienced significant growth over the past few years. This is because of increasing desire to produce portable and wireless electronics with extended life. The use of batteries can be troublesome due to their limited lifespan, thus necessitating their periodic replacement. In the case of wireless sensors that are to be placed in remote locations, the sensor must be of a disposable nature to allow the device to function over extended periods of time. Energy harvesting devices are designed to capture the ambient energy in the surroundings and convert it into usable electrical energy. The concept of power harnessing works towards developing self-powered devices that do not require replaceable batteries. Sources for harvesting ambient energy are waste heat, vibration, electromagnetic waves, wind, flowing water, and solar energy. This article will review recent literature in the field of power harvesting using piezoelectric materials and present the current state of power harvesting in its drive to create completely self-powered devices.

Yanbu Journal of Engineering and Science, 2022

The most basic need of today's world is energy which is non-renewable source of energy available on earth. The need is increasing day by day, to overcome this there is requirement of energy harvesting. This paper attempts to show how man has been utilizing and optimizing kinetic energy. Current work also illustrates the working principle of piezoelectric crystal and various sources of vibration for the crystal. " The idea of energy harvesting is applicable to sensors as well as transducers that are placed and operated on some entities for a long time to replace the sensor module batteries. Such sensors are commonly called self-powered sensors. " Embarked piezoelectric transducer, which is an electromechanical converter, undergoes mechanical vibrations therefore produce electricity. This power source has many applications as in agriculture, home application and street lighting and as energy source for sensors in remote locations.

Journal of Electroceramics, 2009

The possibility of recycling ambient energies with miniature electrical generators instead of using batteries with limited lifespan has stimulated important research efforts over the past years. Integration of such miniature generators is mainly envisioned into low power autonomous systems, for various industrial or domestic applications. This paper focuses on the use of piezoelectric materials for generating electrical energy from ambient mechanical vibrations. A review of the piezoelectric materials and the electromechanical structures which have been proposed in this field is first presented. Electrical circuits with one-stage, two-stage and three-stage interfaces which have been developed for optimizing the electrical power flow from piezoelectric devices to energy storage elements are then compared to a novel technique for controlling the energy converted by piezoelectric materials. This novel approach is derived from Ericsson thermodynamic cycle. A solution for practical implementation is proposed, theoretical predictions and experimental results are compared and discussed.

2014

Abstract- In this paper we focused on the performance and analysis of commercially available piezo generator, which converts mechanical vibration to electrical power. The relationship between the dynamic response of piezo generator and its power output is realized. The efficient energy transfer of mechanical structure and high electromechanical transformation of piezoelectric material make the piezoelectric generator a extraordinary performance. The piezoelectric generator produces maximum output voltage of 4.3 V which is 0.012 µW per centimeter square. Index Terms: MEMS, Energy harvester, Piezo generator. I.