Energy generation based on piezoelectric transducers

Abstract

In this paper, the design, implementation and testing of a prototype for electric energy generation from collecting wasted ambient power sources coming from the mechanic vibrations (Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting PEH) is presented. This prototype has been specifically designed for applications where it is required to connect multiple transducers in order to obtain greater power levels. This design is based on a previous comparative analysis among all the existing auto-harvesting circuits. The prototype has been tested both in laboratory tests as in real field trials on board railway units, with encouraging results. It has been proved that, though achieving power levels of a few milliwatts, its application in the autonomous low-consumption devices powering systems field is a real possibility.