Design, Construction and Evaluation of an Energy Harvesting Prototype built with Piezoelectric Materials

Abstract

The piezoelectricity allows the generation of electric power taking advantage of the movement of vehicles and pedestrians. Many prototypes have been made with piezoelectric generators, but at present, their commercialization and use has not been popularized due to their low power generation and energy losses. A design of an experimental prototype of an energy harvester with piezoelectric materials that reduces these losses and generates more energy thanks to the resonance with the beams is proposed in this article. An equilateral triangular tilde is designed such it will not deform when a force act on it. The tilde has four-cantilever beams, and it is designed to resonate with the natural frequency of the piezoelectric material. This is coupled to the piezoelectric device. The vibration generated on the beam, by average of a mechanical load, is used to generate more energy when it resonates. The piezoelectric is a ceramic material and generates a nominal power of 75 mW before placing it on the beam, and 375 mW after being placed on the beam. However, the energy collection circuit has losses due to its own consumption, the transmission of energy to the storage system, and in the mechanical system.