Piezoelectric Power- a new era of energy exploration

The process of acquiring the energy surrounding a system and converting it into usable

electrical energy is termed power harvesting.With the modern progress in wireless and micro-electromechanical systems technology, the demand for portable electronics and wireless sensors is rising rapidly. As these devices are portable, it becomes necessary that they have their own power supply. Generally, the power supply used is the conventional battery; however problems can crop up when we are using batteries as they are of limited lifespan. For movable and electronics replacing the battery is challenging because the electronics could die at any time and replacement of the battery can become a tedious job. Supplying power through a long cable can be unfeasible, hard to mount and maintain. Recent progresses in integrated circuit manufacturing and low power circuit design have reduced the total power requirements of a wireless sensor node to well below 1 mW. The requirement of a power supply for small power electronics, a sensor in this case in a moving environment, is the main motivating factor of this project.

A piezoelectric substance is one that produces an electric charge when a mechanical stress is applied (the substance is compressed or stretched). Conversely, a mechanical deformation (the substance contracts or expands) is produced when an electric field is applied. This effect is formed in crystals that have no centre of symmetry. To explain this, we have to look at the individual molecules that make up the crystal. Each molecule has a polarization, one end is more negatively charged and the other end is positively charged, and is called a dipole. This is a result of the atoms that make up the molecule and the way the molecules are shaped. The polar axis is an imaginary line that runs through the centre of both charges on the molecule. In a mono-crystal the polar axes of all of the dipoles lie in one direction. The crystal is said to be symmetrical because if you were to cut the crystal at any point, the resultant polar axes of the two pieces would lie in the same direction as the original. In a Polycrystal, there are different regions within the material that have a different polar axis. It is asymmetrical because there is no point at which the crystal could be cut that would leave the two remaining pieces with the same resultant polar axis.

Modes of Application of Piezoelectric Power systems:

1. Application of Piezoelectric Phenomenon in Support beams:

This mode is utilised whenever there is requirement to energies a sensor using a power source. It is beneficial to utilise piezoelectric power to activate the sensor.

2. Application of Piezoelectric energy to power RF transmitters: This mode would be an interesting technology to implement in the house because it enables us to have light switches on places where we never imagined such as on a window or outside in the middle of the yard.

3. Shoe-Mounted PVDF Piezoelectric Transducer for Energy Harvesting: The essentially compressive forces of a heel strike have been harnessed to provide the tensile forces best suited to excite the poly-vinyli-dene fluoride (PVDF) by means of a heel insert. The benefit of placing the transducer below the heel of the foot instead of farther forward near the ball lies in the fact that there is more energy dissipated in this location.

Piezoelectric Power- a new era of energy exploration

By: Dhirendra Mishra

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