scholarly journals Design of a Compact and Highly Efficient Energy Harvester System Suitable for Battery-Less Low Cost On-Board Unit Applications

Electronics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Giovanni Collodi ◽  
Stefano Maddio ◽  
Giuseppe Pelosi
Keyword(s):  
Power Supply ◽  
Performance Optimization ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Maximum Energy ◽  
Matching Network ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Vehicle Identification ◽  
Source Impedance ◽  
Toll Collection

This study addresses the general problem regarding the power supply in specific on-board unit (OBUs) solutions. In detail, this paper refers to a subset of the so-called electronic toll collection (ETC) applications such as assets control and vehicle identification, where simplicity, low costs, and maximum compactness represent the most important features. In this context, the next generation of OBUs, developed specifically with reference to such applications, will involve energy harvester-based battery-less techniques. Previous studies have mainly concentrated on performance optimization by achieving maximum energy transmission to the OBUs. This study discusses a technique suitable for both maximizing performance and minimizing the dimensions of transponder energy harvesters suitable for assets control and vehicle identification operating at 5.8 GHz. The technique assumes that an optimal source impedance exists that maximizes the energy transfer to the transponder, thus enabling its power supply in a battery-less configuration. We discuss a solution based on a compact patch antenna designed to exhibit this optimal source impedance to the RF-to-DC rectifier. This approach avoids the use of a lossy matching network. For the sake of comparison, the same function is compared with an equivalent development, which includes the interstage matching network between the antenna and the RF-to-DC rectifier. We introduce experimental results demonstrating that the ultracompact energy harvester optimized at −5 dBm of impinging power is capable of increasing both the charge current and energy efficiency from 340 to 450 μA and from 37% to 47%, respectively.

scholarly journals Novel Battery-Less Sustainable Energy Harvester Scheme for On-board Electronic Units

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-140
Author(s):  
Ranganathan G ◽  
Bindhu V
Keyword(s):  
Performance Optimization ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Maximum Energy ◽  
Energy Transmission ◽  
Matching Network ◽  
Smart Vehicles ◽  
Source Impedance ◽  
Toll Collection ◽  
Continuous Power

With the rapid development in smart vehicles, the on-board unit is established for communication between the vehicle and toll collection booth for toll collection. However, providing a continuous power supply to such units has been a challenge. While features like compactness, low cost and simplicity are to be maintained, the accuracy and performance of the device are to be maintained intact. This paper proposes a battery-less energy harvester scheme as a solution to this power issue. Maximum energy transmission Several researches are conducted on obtaining maximum energy transmission through performance optimization in this domain. This paper provides maximum performance while minimizing the energy harvester transponder dimensions. The energy transmitted to the transponder is maximized considering the optimal source impedance. This provides power to the battery-less structure. The radio frequency to DC rectifier is provided with an optimal source impedance with the help of a small patch antenna. Utilization of a lossy matching network can be avoided through this technique. Inter-stage matching network is used for comparison of the function. The energy efficiency using the proposed scheme is increased by a factor of 10% when compared to the existing schemes.

scholarly journals Harvesting Solar Energy from Asphalt Pavement

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 12807
Author(s):  
Md Fahim Tanvir Hossain ◽  
Samer Dessouky ◽  
Ayetullah B. Biten ◽  
Arturo Montoya ◽  
Daniel Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Light Transmission ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Visible Spectrum ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Self Powered

This study aims at designing and developing a new technique to harvest solar energy from asphalt pavements. The proposed energy harvester system consists of a pavement solar box with a transparent polycarbonate sample and a thin-film solar panel. This device mechanism can store energy in a battery charged over daytime and later convert it into electric power as per demand. A wide range of polycarbonate samples containing different thicknesses, elastic moduli, and light transmission properties were tested to select the most efficient materials for the energy harvester system. Transmittance Spectroscopy was conducted to determine the percent light transmission property of the polycarbonate samples at different wavelengths in the visible spectrum. Finite Element Analysis modeling of the pavement–tire load system was conducted to design the optimal energy harvester system under static load. It was followed by the collection of data on the generated power under different weather conditions. The energy harvesters were also subjected to vehicular loads in the field. The results suggest that the proposed pavement solar box can generate an average of 23.7 watts per square meter continuously over 6 h a day under sunny conditions for the weather circumstances encountered in South Texas while providing a slightly smaller power output in other weather circumstances. It is a promising self-powered and low-cost installation technique that can be implemented at pedestrian crossings and intersections to alert distracted drivers at the time of pedestrian crossing, which is likely to improve pedestrian safety.

scholarly journals A Flutter-Based Electromagnetic Wind Energy Harvester: Theory and Experiments

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (22) ◽  
pp. 4823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuang Lu ◽  
Quan Wen ◽  
Xianming He ◽  
Zhiyu Wen
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Low Power ◽  
Power Supply ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Electronic Devices ◽  
Power Electronic ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Output Performance

Wind energy harvesting is a promising way to offer power supply to low-power electronic devices. Miniature wind-induced vibration energy harvesters, which are currently being focused on by researchers in the field, offer the advantages of small volume and simple structure. In this article, an analytical model was proposed for the kinetic analysis of a flutter-based electromagnetic wind energy harvester. As a result, the critical wind speeds of energy harvesters with different magnet positions were predicted. To experimentally verify the analytical predictions and investigate the output performance of the proposed energy harvester, a small wind tunnel was built. The critical wind speeds measured by the experiment were found to be consistent with the predictions. Therefore, the proposed model can be used to predict the critical wind speed of a wind belt type energy harvester. The experimental results also show that placing the magnets near the middle of the membrane can result in lower critical wind speed and higher output performance. The optimized wind energy harvester was found to generate maximum average power of 705 μW at a wind speed of 10 m/s, offering application prospects for the power supply of low-power electronic devices. This work can serve as a reference for the structural design and theoretical analysis of a flutter-based wind energy harvester.

scholarly journals Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Controlled with an IGBT H-Bridge and Bidirectional Buck–Boost for Low-Cost 4G Devices

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (24) ◽  
pp. 7039
Author(s):  
Daniel Teso-Fz-Betoño ◽  
Iñigo Aramendia ◽  
Jon Martinez-Rico ◽  
Unai Fernandez-Gamiz ◽  
Ekaitz Zulueta
Keyword(s):  
Power Supply ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Power Saving ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Power Saving Mode ◽  
Saving Mode ◽  
Power Point

In this work, a semi-submersible piezoelectric energy harvester was used to provide power to a low-cost 4G Arduino shield. Initially, unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS)-based simulations were conducted to investigate the dynamic forces under different conditions. An adaptive differential evolution (JADE) multivariable optimization algorithm was used for the power calculations. After JADE optimization, a communication cycle was designed. The shield works in two modes: communication and power saving. The power-saving mode is active for 285 s and the communication mode for 15 s. This cycle consumes a determinate amount of power, which requires a specific piezoelectric material and, in some situations, an extra power device, such as a battery or supercapacitor. The piezoelectric device is able to work at the maximum power point using a specific Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) H-bridge controlled with a relay action. For the extra power supply, a bidirectional buck–boost converter was implemented to flow the energy in both directions. This electronic circuit was simulated to compare the extra power supply and the piezoelectric energy harvester behavior. Promising results were obtained in terms of power production and energy storage. We used 0.59, 0.67 and 1.69 W piezoelectric devices to provide the energy for the 4G shield and extra power supply device.

scholarly journals Enhancing the Electromechanical Coupling in Soft Energy Harvesters by Using Graded Dielectric Elastomers

Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1187
Author(s):  
Lingling Chen ◽  
Shengyou Yang
Keyword(s):  
Electromechanical Coupling ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Large Deformations ◽  
Maximum Energy ◽  
Outer Radius ◽  
Dielectric Films ◽  
Dielectric Elastomers ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
New Energy

Soft dielectric elastomers can quickly achieve large deformations when they are subjected to electromechanical loads. They are widely used to fabricate a number of soft functional devices. However, the functions of soft devices are limited to the failure modes of soft dielectric elastomers. In this paper, we use graded dielectric elastomers to produce a soft energy harvester with a strong ability of energy harvesting. Compared to the conventional energy harvester with homogeneous dielectric films, our new energy harvester is made of graded elastomers and can increase both the specific energy from 2.70 J/g to 2.93 J/g and the maximum energy from 6.3 J/g to 8.6 J/g by just using a stiffer outer radius. By optimizing the material parameters in graded dielectric films, the soft energy harvester can reach better performance, and our results can provide guidance for designing powerful energy harvesters.

Contradiction Analysis and Solution in the R&D of High-Power Solar LED Street Lamp Controller

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-19
Author(s):  
Zhengwang Xu ◽  
Wei Mei ◽  
Jiaqi Yu ◽  
Jiarui Zhang ◽  
Yuchun Yi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Supply ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Solar Panel ◽  
Battery Voltage ◽  
Supply Circuit ◽  
Led Light ◽  
Power Supply Circuit ◽  
Side Mode ◽  
Dual Power

As being restricted by factors such as cost, efficiency and size, the development of high-power solar LED street light controller is faced with plenty of difficulties. In case that a structure of two independent DC/DC is applied as the main circuit, it has to face problems such as large size and high cost; in case of applying the bidirectional BUCK/BOOST circuit, it requires change-over switches to control the solar panel and LED light. As being restricted by withstanding voltage, on-resistance and cost, a PMOS device cannot be used as the change-over switch of solar panel and LED light. However, when being used as a change-over switch, an NMOS device must apply the low-side mode under which the negative ends of the mentioned three parts are cut off. In the condition of applying the low-side mode, a differential circuit must be used to detect the voltage of the solar panel. Furthermore, in order to make sure batteries can still be regularly charged after wearing out in daylight, the controller must be supplied with power through a dual power supply circuit that can obtain power from both the solar panel and the battery. The demander has a requirement on extremely low standby power consumption of the product, and thus it is necessary to minimize the circuit that is live while working in standby mode. Methods: The bidirectional BUCK/BOOST circuit structure is applied to the main circuit to realize a higher change-over efficiency while giving considerations to both cost and size. The NMOS device, model IRFB4410ZPBF, with a price of about three yuan, is used as the switching device, and the low-side mode is applied, that is the switches inserted in between negative end of the solar panel or LED light and that of the DC/DC circuit. The low-cost rail-to-rail operational amplifier LM358 is used to form a differential amplification circuit for detecting the voltage of the solar panel. A XL1509-12E1 chip that only costs 0.88 yuan/pc is selected as the main change-over chip for the power supply, which has realized the highly-efficient and low-cost change-over of the power supply. A dual power supply circuit and a step-down protective circuit are designed for the XL1509-12E1 change-over chip. By comparing solar panel voltage with battery voltage, the solar panel booting circuit is realized. Only when solar panel voltage is higher than battery voltage, does the system program start to power it up for running, so that the outage of most of the circuits of the system under standby mode does not consume energy. Furthermore, the solar panel voltage detecting circuit, the solar panel booting circuit and several return difference functions are corrected during system debugging. Results: The circuit board of the entire controller features small size, low cost and high efficiency. It measures about 100*62*18mm in size, costs about 60 yuan, and the charge/discharge change-over efficiency reaches up to over 95%. The controller has many functions: it is capable of operating within a large scope, in which, solar panel voltage is subject to 15~50V, LED light voltage is subject to 15~60V, battery voltage is subject to 10~35V and battery-end charge/discharge current is 10A; it is capable of adapting to monocrystalline silicon/multicrystalline silicon/thin-film and many other kinds of solar panels, as well as lithium/lead-acid and many other kinds of batteries; it is capable of detecting the conversion of day and night, automatically controlling charging and discharging and automatically making adaptive adjustment according to seasonal variations; the current to be consumed during standby will be maintained below 3mA, and thus the power consumption is extremely low. Conclusion: By selecting the bidirectional BUCK/BOOST circuit structure, applying low-side mode for switching of solar panel and LED light, using a differential circuit to detect solar panel voltage, using a low-cost DC/DC chip to realize power supply change-over, designing a dual power supply circuit, introducing solar panel booting circuit and other hardware design, as well as MPPT algorithm, state recognition and control, return difference control and other software design, a solar LED street light control product featuring small size, low cost, high efficiency and multiple functions is successfully developed.

scholarly journals A Low Power AC/DC Interface for Wind-Powered Sensor Nodes

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1823
Author(s):  
Mohammad Haidar ◽  
Hussein Chible ◽  
Corrado Boragno ◽  
Daniele D. Caviglia
Keyword(s):  
Low Power ◽  
Power Supply ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
Sensor Nodes ◽  
Wireless Sensor ◽  
Constant Voltage ◽  
Interface Circuit ◽  
Switching Converter ◽  
Input Signals

Sensor nodes have been assigned a lot of tasks in a connected environment that is growing rapidly. The power supply remains a challenge that is not answered convincingly. Energy harvesting is an emerging solution that is being studied to integrate in low power applications such as internet of things (IoT) and wireless sensor networks (WSN). In this work an interface circuit for a novel fluttering wind energy harvester is presented. The system consists of a switching converter controlled by a low power microcontroller. Optimization techniques on the hardware and software level have been implemented, and a prototype is developed for testing. Experiments have been done with generated input signals resulting in up to 67% efficiency for a constant voltage input. Other experiments were conducted in a wind tunnel that showed a transient output that is compatible with the target applications.

scholarly journals Load Resistance Optimization of a Broadband Bistable Piezoelectric Energy Harvester for Primary Harmonic and Subharmonic Behaviors

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2865 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sungryong Bae ◽  
Pilkee Kim
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Load Resistance ◽  
Oscillation Period ◽  
Ambient Vibration ◽  
Ambient Vibrations ◽  
Frequency Dependency ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Optimal Load ◽  
Bistable Energy Harvester

In this study, optimization of the external load resistance of a piezoelectric bistable energy harvester was performed for primary harmonic (period-1T) and subharmonic (period-3T) interwell motions. The analytical expression of the optimal load resistance was derived, based on the spectral analyses of the interwell motions, and evaluated. The analytical results are in excellent agreement with the numerical ones. A parametric study shows that the optimal load resistance depended on the forcing frequency, but not the intensity of the ambient vibration. Additionally, it was found that the optimal resistance for the period-3T interwell motion tended to be approximately three times larger than that for the period-1T interwell motion, which means that the optimal resistance was directly affected by the oscillation frequency (or oscillation period) of the motion rather than the forcing frequency. For broadband energy harvesting applications, the subharmonic interwell motion is also useful, in addition to the primary harmonic interwell motion. In designing such piezoelectric bistable energy harvesters, the frequency dependency of the optimal load resistance should be considered properly depending on ambient vibrations.

scholarly journals Power Density Improvement of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters via a Novel Hybridization Scheme with Electromagnetic Transduction

Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 803
Author(s):  
Zhongjie Li ◽  
Chuanfu Xin ◽  
Yan Peng ◽  
Min Wang ◽  
Jun Luo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Density ◽  
Output Power ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Hybrid Energy ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Piezoelectric Patch ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Electromagnetic Transduction ◽  
Self Powered ◽  
Power Densities

A novel hybridization scheme is proposed with electromagnetic transduction to improve the power density of piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) in this paper. Based on the basic cantilever piezoelectric energy harvester (BC-PEH) composed of a mass block, a piezoelectric patch, and a cantilever beam, we replaced the mass block by a magnet array and added a coil array to form the hybrid energy harvester. To enhance the output power of the electromagnetic energy harvester (EMEH), we utilized an alternating magnet array. Then, to compare the power density of the hybrid harvester and BC-PEH, the experiments of output power were conducted. According to the experimental results, the power densities of the hybrid harvester and BC-PEH are, respectively, 3.53 mW/cm3 and 5.14 μW/cm3 under the conditions of 18.6 Hz and 0.3 g. Therefore, the power density of the hybrid harvester is 686 times as high as that of the BC-PEH, which verified the power density improvement of PEH via a hybridization scheme with EMEH. Additionally, the hybrid harvester exhibits better performance for charging capacitors, such as charging a 2.2 mF capacitor to 8 V within 17 s. It is of great significance to further develop self-powered devices.

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