Power Harvesting

Could bring about the next Generation of

Electronics

Vinod Gupta School of Management

IIT Kharagpur

Course: Management Information Systems (BM61014)

Instructor: Dr. Prithwis Mukerjee

Author
Manish Sethi (10BM60045), MBA 1st year, VGSOM IIT-KGP

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Table of Contents

Abstract ........................................................................................................................... 3

Introduction to the idea and Its Importance ..................................................................... 4

Fundamentals of Power Harvesting ................................................................................ 5

Piezoelectric Effect .......................................................................................................... 6

What is the potential of power harvesting?...................................................................... 8

Research done by Tahir Cagin ........................................................................................ 8

Practical applications..................................................................................................... 10

The Future of Power Harvesting ................................................................................... 11

Challenges and Limitations ........................................................................................... 12

Conclusion: A Final Word on Power Harvesting ............................................................ 13

References .................................................................................................................... 14

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Abstract

There has been a significant growth in the field of power harvesting over the past few years due to the
ever increasing desire to produce portable and wireless electronic devices with the extended lifespan.
Presently these portable and wireless electronics devices are designed to incorporate electrochemical
battery as the power source. The use of these electrochemical battery can be bothersome due to their
limited lifespan, thus requires periodic replacement. We can use the concept of power harvesting to build
self-powered devices that do not requires replaceable power supply such as batteries. Power harvesting
is the concept of capturing the energy surrounding a system and converting it into electrical energy that
can be used as a power supply to extend the lifetime of that system or provide an continuous supply of
energy to an electronic device. There exist a large number of ambient energy sources such as wind, solar
energy, heat, vibration, electromagnetic waves, and flowing water, each of these energy sources can be
effectively used to power electronics devices. One of the most common methods of obtaining the energy
surrounding a system is to use piezoelectric materials.

This paper will review some of the research that has been performed in the field of power harvesting,
presents the existing state of power harvesting and the future goals that must be achieved to create
completely self-powered devices.

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Introduction to the idea and Its Importance

The process of capturing the energy surrounding a system and converting it into electrical energy that can
be used as a power supply to extend the lifetime or provide an continuous supply of energy to an
electronic device is termed as power harvesting. The escalating desire for completely self-powered
electronic devices has caused an enhanced in the amount of research in the area of power harvesting.
This increase in research is after the modern advances in wireless technology and low power electronic
devices such as micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). These advances had opened various doors
for power harvesting systems in practical real world applications. The use of piezoelectric materials to
capture energy surrounding a system by the vibrations is one method that has seen a dramatic increase
in use for power harvesting. The crystalline structure of piezoelectric materials provides the ability to
transform mechanical strain energy into electrical energy and vice versa. Using this property the
piezoelectric materials can absorb mechanical energy from their surroundings, such as vibration, and
transform it into electrical energy that can be used to power other electronic devices. Vibrations of these
piezoelectric materials are the major methods of power harvesting other methods do exist, like the use of
electromagnetic devices which is one of the conventional methods.

With the escalating desire for completely self-powered electronic devices and recent developments in
wireless and MEMS technology, the demand for these portable electronics and wireless sensors is
growing rapidly. Since these devices are portable it is must that they carry their own power supply. Mostly
the power supply to these portable devices is through conventional batteries; however these batteries can
create problem because of its finite lifespan. So replacing the battery of these portable electronic devices
is challenging because the electronic device could die at any time and replacement of the batteries can
become a tedious task. The problem is much more critical in the case of wireless sensors, as these
devices is being placed in a very remote locations and when the battery has used all its power, the sensor
must be retrieved and the battery has to be replaced. Due to the remote locations of these wireless
sensors obtaining these devices simply for the replacement of the batteries can become a very expensive
or sometimes even impossible task.

The issues discussed above can be potentially resolved through the use of concept known as power
harvesting. The primary goal of a power harvesting device is to capture the normally lost energy that’s
surrounds a system and convert it into electric energy for the electronic devices to consume. This
electrical energy is used as an energy source for electronic devices that does not depend on finite power
supply, such as the battery. One source of this energy is the vibrations that are present around most

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machines and systems. This is the perfect source of energy for the use of piezoelectric materials, which
have the ability to convert mechanical strain energy into electrical energy and vice versa.

The electrical energy that has been captured could then be used to extend the life of the power supply or
in the best case provide continuous energy for the electronic devices. Due to the following use of the
normally lost energy surrounding a system, the amount of research devoted to power harvesting has
been rapidly increasing. This paper will review in detail some of the topics in power harvesting that have
been receiving the most research, including power harvesting from mechanical vibration, Real world
applications of power harvesting and the future of power harvesting.

Fundamentals of Power Harvesting

Piezoelectric effect has two domains; first is the direct piezoelectric effect that shows the ability of
piezoelectric material to transform mechanical strain energy into electrical energy, and second is the
converse effect, which shows the ability of piezoelectric material to convert an applied electrical potential
into mechanical strain energy. The direct piezoelectric effect of the piezoelectric materials is accountable
for its ability to act as a sensor and the converse piezoelectric effect of the piezoelectric materials is
responsible for its ability to act as an actuator. Material is termed as piezoelectric when it shows the ability
to transform applied electrical energy into mechanical strain energy, and similarly when it converts
mechanical strain energy into electrical energy.

Piezoelectric materials belong to a special large class of materials called ferroelectrics. One of the
distinctive features of ferroelectric materials is that its molecular structure is such that it exhibits a local
charge separation, know as electric dipole. These electric dipoles are orientated randomly throughout the
material composition, but when the material is heated above a certain critical point, known as the Curie
temperature, and a very strong electric field is applied to it at that temperature, the electric dipoles
reorient themselves; this process is known as poling. When this material is cooled the electric dipoles
maintain some orientation at that time this material is then said to be poled. After the completion of this
poling process the material shows the piezoelectric effect.

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The mechanical behavior and electrical behavior of a piezoelectric material is modeled by two linear
equations. The equation contains two electrical and two mechanical variables. The direct piezoelectric
effect and the converse effect of the piezoelectric material is modeled by the following linear matrix
equations:

Direct Piezoelectric Effect: {D} = [e]T {S} + ⎡⎣α S ⎤⎦{E} …………………..(1)

Converse Piezoelectric Effect: {T} = ⎡⎣cE ⎤⎦{S} −[e]{E} ……………………(2)

(IEEE Standard on Piezoelectricity)

Where {D} is the electric displacement vector,

{T} is the stress vector,

[e] is the dielectric permittivity matrix,

[cE] is the matrix of elastic coefficients at constant electric field strength,

{S}is the strain vector,

[αS] is the dielectric matrix at constant mechanical strain, and

{E} is the electric field vector.

After the material has been poled an electric field is applied to it so that the material induces an
expansion or contraction. However, this electric field can be applied along the surface of the material, in
order to generate a potentially different stress and strain. A more detailed description of the piezoelectric
effect and the methods used to model these materials behavior is beyond the scope of this paper.

Piezoelectric Effect

Piezoelectricity is the charge that is captured in certain solid materials such as crystals, ceramics, and
most of the biological matter such as DNA, proteins and bones, in reaction to the applied mechanical
strain. Piezoelectricity means electricity resulting from the applied pressure. The word Piezoelectricity is
derived from the Greek word piezo or piezein, which means to press or squeeze, and electric or electron,
which is an ancient source of electric charge. Piezoelectricity is charge that accumulates in certain solid
materials such as crystals due to the result of the piezoelectric effect.

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The piezoelectric effect is the linear electromechanical interaction between the electrical state and
mechanical state in solid crystalline materials. It is a reversible process in which the materials shows the
direct piezoelectric effect i.e. the internal generation of electrical charge due to an applied mechanical
force, also shows the reverse piezoelectric effect or converse effect i.e. the internal generation of a
mechanical force due to an applied electrical field. Take the example of lead zirconate titanate crystals
that generates measurable piezoelectricity when its structure is deformed by about 0.1% of the original
static dimension, On the other hand, lead zirconate titanate crystals will deformed by about 0.1% of its
original static dimension when an external electric field is applied to the material.

The piezoelectric effect is related to the occurrence of electric dipole moments in solids crystalline
materials. These electric dipole moments may either be due to the ions on crystal lattice sites that have
been surrounded by asymmetric charges or it may be carried by molecular groups. The dipole density or
polarization P for crystals can easily be calculated by summing the dipole moments per unit volume of the
crystal. Every dipole moment is a vector, thus the polarization or dipole density P is also a vector. These
domains are usually randomly oriented, but can be aligned during poling a process in which a strong
electric field is applied to the structure of crystal at a very high temperature.

Crystal

Piezoelectric effect depends on the change of polarization P when applying a mechanical stress on the
crystal. This is either caused by re-orientation of molecular dipole moments or by a re-configuration of the
dipole-inducing surrounding as an effect of the external applied stress. The change in P appears as a
variation of the electrical field extending between the faces. But keep in mind that the piezoelectricity is
not caused by a change in charge density but due to change in dipole density or polarization P.

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What is the potential of power harvesting?

Power harvesting is the concept of capturing the normally lost energy like the vibrational energy
surrounding a system and converting it into electrical energy with the use of the material called
piezoelectrics. Piezoelectrics material crystalline structure provides the ability to convert an applied strain
into an electric current. This piezoelectrics material is used to develop self-powered devices that do not
require replaceable power supplies, such as batteries. In most cases these piezoelectrics material is
strained through the vibration around the structure, thus allowing an unused energy source to be utilized
for the purpose of powering small electronics devices. However, the amount of energy generated by
these piezoelectrics material is very small and it is far less than what is required by most of the electronic
devices.

The low-powered electronic devices such as cell phones, laptops and other electronics devices used by
everyone from the average consumer to law enforcement officers and even soldiers in the battlefield have
the potential to use this material for the continuous power supply in place of batteries that requires
charging. I know most of you hate charging your cell phone, laptops and other electronics devices every
now and then, But now we can have the self-powering devices that never needs charging. The self-
powering cell phones won't require any charging because it will convert sound waves produced by the
user into the energy that’s all what it needs to keep it running.

Research done by Tahir Cagin

Tahir Cagin, a professor of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, whose research focuses on
nanotechnology, has made a significant discovery in the field of power harvesting. Power Harvesting is an
area that aims to develop self-powered devices, using the materials known piezoelectrics, which do not
require replaceable power supplies, such as batteries. Cagin and his partners who are from the University
of Houston had discovered a certain type of piezoelectric material that can covert energy at a 100 percent
increase when manufactured at a very small size. In their case the size was around 21 nanometers in
thickness. But when these piezoelectric materials are constructed bigger or smaller than this specific size
they show a significant decrease in their energy-converting capacity.

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The research done by Tahir Cagin and his partners have the potential to supply power to the low-
powered electronic devices such as cell phones, laptops, and a host of other electronics and computer-
related devices used by everyone from the average consumer to law enforcement officers and even
soldiers in the battlefield. In many of these high-tech devices there are components that are measured in
nanometers. A nanometer is a microscopic unit of measurement representing one-billionth of a meter, a
human hair is about 100,000 nanometers wide.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has developed methods to generate power
for soldier’s portable equipment through the use of power harvesting. It simply requires soldiers to walk
and generate power. They have also developed sensors, such as those used to detect explosives, which
do not required replaceable batteries through the use of self-powering technology. According to Cagin
“Even the disturbances in the form of sound waves such as pressure waves in gases, liquids and solids
may be harvested for powering nano- and micro devices of the future if these materials are processed
and manufactured appropriately for this purpose”.

The research that Tahir Cagin and his partners had done can have a huge impact on the daily life.
Lifespan of batteries still remains a major concern for cell phones, laptops and mp3 players. And the
current and most significant solution to this is the self-powering devices. But the major concern of Cagin
is that when we are working with materials of nanoscale dimensions their performance and properties
change dramatically.

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Practical applications

Piezoelectrics is not a new concept it was discovered by French scientists in the 1880s. The first use of
piezoelectric effect was in sonar devices which were used during World War I. Today you can find its use
in microphones, quartz watches, cigarette lighters in automobiles and lots of other devices. When we
press the lighter button it causes impact on a piezoelectric crystal that in turn generates enough voltage
to create a spark and finally ignite the gas.

On a grander scale, In Europe we have some night clubs where the dance floors are built with
piezoelectrics materials and it is used to absorb and convert the waste energy from hundreds of people
footsteps into electrical energy in order to power lights, strobes and stereos of the club.

Sidewalk Power Generator

One of the best ways to capture the waste energy is to lay

piezoelectric crystal underneath the sidewalks, stairwells or
any other high traffic area to power the street lights or any
other use.

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Gyms Can Generate Their Own Energy

It has been seen that several gyms in Portland

and Hong Kong is using the self-powering
technology i.e. the piezoelectric effect to convert
energy from exercisers to power its lights and
music.

The Future of Power Harvesting

There has been a significant inclination towards finding the alternative sources of energy in the last few
years. Till now the sources of energy are fossil fuels such as the petroleum, natural gas, coal, etc. But
now we all have realized that these are finite energy resources and the energy sources that will power our
future lies somewhere else. The future of sustainable, clean energy lies in some other more abstract
sources. Wind, of course, is a possible option, Solar, indeed, will play an important role and Tidal Wave is
yet another possible method. Well, there are many more to it but my favorite and presently the most
viable option is Piezoelectric energy harvesting.

Many experts have ruled out the power harvesting as the viable option of energy source due to the
advances in the field of battery technology and power optimization. They noticed that the batteries are
getting smaller and more powerful and electronics devices are getting less power hungry. But recent
developments have shown that power harvesting is not confined to some specific applications. Now
batteries are perceived as an inadequate source of power for a long term operations. As changing
batteries in many applications are as costly as complete failure of the devices. Thus there is a big space
in the market for the self-powered products that gets all the required power from the environment.

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In the near future, the street-lights at your locality and flyovers or the stereo system at your local gyms
and bars could very well be powered by foot traffic. In order to maintain a certain lifestyle in a competitive,
resource strapped world, we need to think out of the box when it comes to energy production. There are
millions of clean, environmentally conscious power sources all around us, we just have to search and
exploit these sources in the most efficient manner. Ambient energy capture will play a major part in the
future of renewable energy, and it is the best time to work on developing new, innovative means of power
generation. I am in no doubt saying that the world of tomorrow looks pretty bright.

Challenges and Limitations

The major limitation that the researchers are facing in the field of power harvesting revolves around the
fact that the electric power generated by piezoelectric materials is too small to power most electronic
devices. Therefore, methods to increase the amount of electrical energy generated by the power
harvesting devices or developing new and innovative methods of capturing the electrical energy are the
key considerations. The new and innovative methods will allow power harvesting to become a source of
electrical power for portable electronics devices and wireless sensors. One recent advance which shows
great promise for power harvesting is the use of rechargeable batteries as the mean of capturing the
electrical energy generated during power harvesting. The early research in the field of power harvesting
uses the capacitor as a means of storing energy and powering electronic devices. However, the capacitor
shows poor power storage characteristics because of its quick discharge time, causing the electronic
devices to switch on and off as the capacitor charges and discharges. This makes capacitor not suitable
for powering computational electronic devices. However, the rechargeable battery can be charged and
then can be used to run any number of electronic devices for an extended period and can continuously be
charged by ambient motion. Innovations in power storage such as with the use of rechargeable batteries
with piezoelectric materials are required in the field of power harvesting.

The efficiency of the power harvesting circuit has to be maximized to allow the full amount of energy that
has been generated to be transferred to the storage medium. The research that has been made in low
power electronic devices must be studied and utilized to optimize power flow from the piezoelectric
materials and minimize circuit losses. Researches in this field are a necessity for the successful use of
piezoelectric materials as a power harvesting device. We can do the tuning of the power harvesting
medium with the structure so that the excitation can be made and thus to maximize the strain of the
piezoelectric materials using the concept of resonance.

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Conclusion: A Final Word on Power Harvesting

The concept of carrying electronic devices such as a mobile phone, laptops and iPods and not worrying
about the charging of the batteries or replacements of the batteries is far closer than one would think.
This idea has caused the desire for self powered electronic devices to grow quickly. There is only one
limitation before these devices, overcoming which this idea can become a reality. The only issue that
needs to be resolved is the method to generate sufficient electrical energy to power the electronic
devices. With the advances in power harvesting that I have outlined in this paper, the ability to acquire
and accumulate the necessary amount of electrical energy to power such electronics devices is clearly
possible.

Finally, practical applications of power harvesting such as sensors, self-powered gyms, night clubs and
sidewalks, it must clearly encourage growth in this field of research. The researcher should increase the
flow of thoughts so that the idea becomes a reality. With the advances in wireless technology and low
power electronics devices, power harvesting is the missing link for completely self-power electronics
devices.

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References

1. IEEE Standard on Piezoelectricity, ANSI Std. 176-1987.

2. http://iopscience.iop.org

3. http://www.che.tamu.edu/orgs/groups/Cagin/index-2.html

4. http://en.wikipedia.org

5. Amirtharajah, R. and Chandrakasan, A.P, 1998, “Self-Powered Signal Processing Using

Vibration Based Power Generation,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

6. http://engineering.tamu.edu/magazine/2010/harvesting-personal-power “Texas A&M

University magazine”

7. http://www.ibridgenetwork.org

8. http://www.sciencedaily.com “source for latest research news”

9. http://www.nano.org.uk “Institute of Nanotechnology (IoN)”

10. http://www.me.mtu.edu “ Michigan Technological University Department of Mechanical

Engineering - Engineering Mechanics”

11. http://www.technologyreview.com

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