Electrostatic Kinetic Energy Harvesting

Harvesting kinetic energy is a good opportunity to power wireless sensor in a vibratory environment. Besides classical methods based on electromagnetic and piezoelectric mechanisms, electrostatic transduction has a great perspective in particular when dealing with small devices based on MEMS technology. This book describes in detail the principle of such capacitive Kinetic Energy Harvesters based on a spring-mass system. Specific points related to the design and operation of kinetic energy harvesters (KEHs) with a capacitive interface are presented in detail: advanced studies on their nonlinear features, typical conditioning circuits and practical MEMS fabrication.

This book provides readers with an overview of kinetic energy harvesting systems, their applications, and a detailed discussion of circuit design of variable-capacitance electrostatic harvesters. The authors describe challenges that need to be overcome when designing miniaturized kinetic energy harvesting systems, along with practical design considerations demonstrated through case studies of developing electrostatic energy harvesting systems. The book also, Discusses the subject of Miniaturized Variable-Capacitance Electrostatic Energy Harvesters from both a theoretical and practical/experimental point of view. Describes detailed circuit designs for developing miniaturized electrostatic harvesters. Includes a comprehensive comparison framework for evaluating electrostatic harvesters, enabling readers to select which harvesters are best suited for a particular application.

Harvesting kinetic energy is a good opportunity to power wireless sensor in a vibratory environment. Besides classical methods based on electromagnetic and piezoelectric mechanisms, electrostatic transduction has a great perspective in particular when dealing with small devices based on MEMS technology. This book describes in detail the principle of such capacitive Kinetic Energy Harvesters based on a spring-mass system. Specific points related to the design and operation of kinetic energy harvesters (KEHs) with a capacitive interface are presented in detail: advanced studies on their nonlinear features, typical conditioning circuits and practical MEMS fabrication.

Kinetic energy harvesting converts movement or vibrations into electrical energy, enables battery free operation of wireless sensors and autonomous devices and facilitates their placement in locations where replacing a battery is not feasible or attractive. This book provides an introduction to operating principles and design methods of modern kinetic energy harvesting systems and explains the implications of harvested power on autonomous electronic systems design. It describes power conditioning circuits that maximize available energy and electronic systems design strategies that minimize power consumption and enable operation. The principles discussed in the book will be supported by real case studies such as battery-less monitoring sensors at water waste processing plants, embedded battery-less sensors in automotive electronics and sensor-networks built with ultra-low power wireless nodes suitable for battery-less applications.

The transformation of vibrations into electric energy through the use of piezoelectric devices is an exciting and rapidly developing area of research with a widening range of applications constantly materialising. With Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting, world-leading researchers provide a timely and comprehensive coverage of the electromechanical modelling and applications of piezoelectric energy harvesters. They present principal modelling approaches, synthesizing fundamental material related to mechanical, aerospace, civil, electrical and materials engineering disciplines for vibration-based energy harvesting using piezoelectric transduction. Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting provides the first comprehensive treatment of distributed-parameter electromechanical modelling for piezoelectric energy harvesting with extensive case studies including experimental validations, and is the first book to address modelling of various forms of excitation in piezoelectric energy harvesting, ranging from airflow excitation to moving loads, thus ensuring its relevance to engineers in fields as disparate as aerospace engineering and civil engineering. Coverage includes: Analytical and approximate analytical distributed-parameter electromechanical models with illustrative theoretical case studies as well as extensive experimental validations Several problems of piezoelectric energy harvesting ranging from simple harmonic excitation to random vibrations Details of introducing and modelling piezoelectric coupling for various problems Modelling and exploiting nonlinear dynamics for performance enhancement, supported with experimental verifications Applications ranging from moving load excitation of slender bridges to airflow excitation of aeroelastic sections A review of standard nonlinear energy harvesting circuits with modelling aspects.

This book describes the fundamentals and principles of energy harvesting and provides the necessary theory and background to develop energy harvesting power supplies. It explains the overall system design and gives quantitative assumptions on environmental energy. It explains different system blocks for an energy harvesting power supply and the trade-offs. The text covers in detail different energy transducer technologies such as piezoelectric, electrodynamic, and thermoelectric generators and solar cells from the material to the component level and explains the appropriate power management circuits required in these systems. Furthermore, it describes and compares storage elements such as secondary batteries and supercapacitors to select the most appropriate one for the application. Besides power supplies that use ambient energy, the book presents systems that use electromagnetic fields in the radio frequency range. Finally, it discusses different application fields and presents examples of self-powered electronic systems to illustrate the content of the preceding chapters.

This book is a single-source guide to nonlinearity and nonlinear techniques in energy harvesting, with a focus on vibration energy harvesters for micro and nanoscale applications. The authors demonstrate that whereas nonlinearity was avoided as an undesirable phenomenon in early energy harvesters, now it can be used as an essential part of these systems. Readers will benefit from an overview of nonlinear techniques and applications, as well as deeper insight into methods of analysis and modeling of energy harvesters, employing different nonlinearities. The role of nonlinearity due to different aspects of an energy harvester is discussed, including nonlinearity due to mechanical-to-electrical conversion, nonlinearity due to conditioning electronic circuits, nonlinearity due to novel materials (e.g., graphene), etc. Coverage includes tutorial introductions to MEMS and NEMS technology, as well as a wide range of applications, such as nonlinear oscillators and transducers for energy harvesters and electronic conditioning circuits for effective energy processing.