ENERGY HARVESTING USING PIEZOCERAMICS

摘要

Energy harvesting devices are growing in popularity for their ability to capture the ambient energy surrounding a system and convert it into usable electrical energy. With an increasing demand for portable electronics and an increased interest in the implementation of arrays of wireless sensors in a number of sectors such as health monitoring in civil infrastructure, MEMS sensor arrays for automotive and aerospace applications, and environmental control, there is a surge in research in the area of power harvesting. One such method of implementing a harvesting system is to use ambient vibration in conjunction with a piezoelectric device to generate electric energy based on the direct piezoelectric effect.rnThis paper presents an overview of recent developments in piezoelectric based energy harvesters for microsystems and nanosystems applications along the various materials used for energy harvesting. The paper also tests two common energy harvester designs to observe their difference in operation.